






^?||':''''''-".'^'- 



tributions to fibucatlon 








Class 

Book 

Copyright 1^". 



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CDPyRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



Teachers in Germany in the 
Sixteenth Century 



Conditions in Protestant Elementary and 
Secondary Schools 



BY 

CHARLES LEONID AS ROBBINS, Ph.D. 



TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO EDUCATION, . . No. 52 



PUBLISHED BY 

Qimtl^trs (EuUrgp. (Jolttmbta Intiirrattg 

NEW YORK CITY 
1912 



itiuMugraph 



v^ 






Copyright, 1912 
By Charles Leonidas Robbins 



Press of 

StEINMAN & FOLTZ, 

Lancaster, Pa. 






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e 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

This study was begun in 1910 in a seminar on The Founda- 
tions of Modern Education conducted by Dr. Paul Monroe; to 
him I am naturally deeply indebted for guidance in carrying 
out the work of investigating and organizing the material. To 
Dean Russell and the committee in charge of the fund for For- 
eign Research Scholarships I owe grateful acknowledgment of 
the fact that they made it possible for me to spend the summer 
of 1911 in Germany, thus enabling me to widen the range of my 
sources. Dr. Arthur Kohler, of Das koniglich sachsische In- 
stitut fiir Kultur- und Universalgeschichte, gave me great 
assistance by making it possible for me to have access to the 
library of the Institut and through it to the Libraries of the 
University and the city of Leipzig. I am indebted to my friend 
Mr. W. D. Head for aid in the drudgery of reading and revising 
manuscript. 

C. L. R. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I 

Introduction: The Sources 



Page 



The general political and ecclesiastical background; form of govern- 
ment; relation of church and state. — The Kirchenordnungen. — Mean- 
ing of the term. — Need for such legislation. — Content of Kirchen- 
ordnungen; of Schulordnungen. — Authorship. — Groups or "families." 
— Authority under which the regulations were issued. — Enforce- 
ment. — Reports of Visitations. — Purpose of Visitation. — Burkhardt's 
study. — Edition of Saxon reports by Pallas. — Nature of the material. 
— Purpose for which the sources are to be used in this study 9-20 

CHAPTER II 
Kinds of Teachers and Their Number 
Two types of schools: German and Latin. — Kinds of each. — 
Teachers in these schools. — Titles and rank. — The sexton-school- 
master and his various titles. — The teachers in Latin schools: rector, 
conrector, cantor, baccalaureus, and other associates. — Evidences from 
the Kirchenordnungen. Pupil teachers. — Two examples. — Number of 
teachers in schools of various tj'pes. — Provisions in ordinances. — The 
total number of teachers. — Inference from the total number of schools. 
— Figures from Burkhardt and Mertz. — Number of German schools 
and German teachers. — Fischer's opinion. — Quotation from Saxon 
Registraturen 21-26 

CHAPTER III 
Character and Training 
General character of teachers in the sixteenth century. — Estimate 
by Bartusch. — Opinion of Mertz. — Demands made in ordinances. — 
Attention given to moral character rather than to intellectual qualifi- 
cations. — WimpheHng's statement of the ideal. — Quotations from 
ordinances. — The actual character of teachers as shown in the rec- 
ords of Visitations, etc. — Girls' schools. — Lower schools for boys. — 
Laziness and neglect of teachers. Sale of wines and liquors. — Pra- 
tau, Thobin, Wendishain. — The character of teachers in Latin 
schools. — The principal vices. — Citations from records: Zahna, 
Liebenwerda, Prettin, Kemberg. — The good quahties of teachers. — 



6 Contents 

Girls' schools. — Details in regard to teachers in boys' schools. — Ex- 
amples. — Records of groups of teachers. — Munden. — Annaberg. — Ma- 
terial from the literature of the time. — Almansor. — Training, in gen- 
eral, required preparation and degrees. Beginnings of seminaries for 
teachers. — Training during service. — Libraries 27-43 

CHAPTER IV 
Appointment and Tenure 

1. Appointment: Predominating influence of clergy. — Prescrip- 
tions in Ordnungen: Leisnig 1523, Wittenberg 1528, Zahna and Kem- 
berg 1528, Grimma 1529, Bitterfeld 1531, Baden-Durlach 1536, 
Havelberg 1545, Saxony 1557, Wittgenstein 1555, Pomerania 1563, 
Palatinate 1564, Prussia 1568, Brandenburg 1573, Altstadt Salzwedel 
1579, Nordhausen 1583. — Material from the records: Bitterfeld 
1572. 

2. Examination: Minden 1530, Wittgenstein 1555, Jever 1562, 
Pomerania 1563, Saxony 1557, Bitterfeld 1531, MoUen 1531, Ulm 
1531, Mecklenburg 1552, Wurttemberg 1559, Nordhausen 1583, 
Prussia 1584, Saxony 1580, Lower Saxony 1585. 

3. Qualifications: A. Girls' Schools: Leisnig 1523, Hamburg 1529, 
Brunswick 1528, Gottingen 1531, Hesse 1526, Hall 1526, Saxony 1533, 
Wittenberg 1533, Pomerania 1535, Brunswick-Wolfenbiittel 1543, 
Wiirttemberg 1559, Pomerania 1563, Lippe 1571, Brandenburg 1573, 
Lower Saxony 1585, Strassburg 1598, Liineberg 1564. B. Boys' 
Schools: Hanover 1536, Pomerania 1563, Lippe 1571. C. Latin 
Schools: Leisnig 1523, HaU 1526, Hesse 1526, Brunswick 1528, Sax- 
ony 1528, Wittenberg 1533, Hanover 1536, Hesse 1537, Schleswig- 
Holstein 1542, Brunswick 1543, Wittgenstein 1555, Waldeck 1556, 
Palatinate 1556, Wiu-ttemberg 1559, Lippe 1571, Brandenburg 1573, 
Saxony 1580, Brieg 1581, Nordhausen 1583, Lower Saxony 1585, 
Aschersleben 1589. 

4. Certificates: Palatinate 1556, Wiirttemberg 1559, Nordhausen 
1587, Mecklenburg 1582, Lippe 1571. 

5. Degrees: Bitterfeld 1543, Brunswick 1528, Hadeln 1544, Hei- 
delberg 1565, Altstadt-Salzwedel 1579. 

6. Installation: Wurttemberg 1559, Stuttgart 1582, Pomerania 
1663, Brandenburg 1573, Saxony 1580, Lippe 1571, Nordhausen 
1583. 

7. Dismissal: Saxony 1557, Prussia 1568, Havelberg 1545, Wiirt- 
temburg 1559, Baden-Durlach 1536, Stralsund 1591, Pomerania 
1563, HaU 1.526. 

8. Tenure: Baden-Durlach 1536, Pomerania 1563, Augsburg 1558, 
Palatinate 1564, Burgsteinfurt. — The Registraturen. — Girls' Schools. 44-66 



Contents 7 

CHAPTER V 
Economic Conditions op Teachers Pagb 
The sources of information. — Sources of income; tuition and ma- 
triculation; general treasury; church lands; gifts and bequests; house 
and land; special fees for weddings, etc.; free meals and special gifts; 
private instruction; gratuities at holiday seasons; civic exemptions; 
outside activities. — Kinds of income. — Amount in girls' schools; in 
boys' schools; in Latin schools. — Administration of funds. — Inade- 
quacy of support. — Tendencies 67-90 

CHAPTER VI 
The Teacher's Official and Social Relations 
Relation to the Church. — Supervision: the supervisors; purpose 
of supervision; nature of supervision; teacher's attitude toward su- 
pervisors. — Relations among teachers. — Relations with parents. — 
Place in social life 91-103 

CHAPTER VII 
The Teachee's Attitude Toward his Profession 
Bases of the estimate. — Attitude of those in authority. — Material 
from the Ordnungen. — Expressions given by teachers : Siber; Haynec- 
cius. — What is revealed by the conduct of teachers. — Transfer to 
other fields 104-112 

CHAPTER VIII 
Summary op Conditions and Tendencies 
ReUgious qualifications. — Development of the class of teachers in 
elementary schools. — Character of teachers. — Preparation. — Ap- 
pointment and Tenure. — Support. — Supervision. — Legislation 113-122 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 123-126 



Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth 

Century 



INTRODUCTION: THE SOURCES 

The Germany of the sixteenth century was a patchwork of 
states, two or three hundred in number, held loosely together in 
an empire which was almost entirely lacking in the essentials of 
a unified government. The states ranged in importance from 
the castle and village of some insignificant knight to the power- 
ful principalities of the Electors. To the extent that the empire 
was lacking as an administrative organization, the various smaller 
units were able to develop something of local and provincial 
government. Such states as Hesse, the Palatinate, Bavaria, 
Brandenburg, and both Saxonies had progressed to a stage where 
they had at least the beginnings of the cameral form of govern- 
ment. The princes had their councils and their own supreme 
courts of justice, their own systems of finance and coinage and 
eventually the control of their own churches. While the coun- 
cils were made up of nobles and lawyers who were subservient 
to their princes, they seem to have been able to give some guid- 
ance to legislation, both civil and ecclesiastical. With the de- 
velopment of the idea that the religion of a state is that of its 
prince, it became possible to crystallize the religious movements 
in the different states and develop a form of ecclesiastical organi- 
zation which had hitherto been impossible. 

This development of church government took the form of the 
consistorial system with the ruling prince as head of the church, 
general oversight being vested in him. The consistory, a modified 
mediaeval episcopal court, was composed of lawyers and divines 
appointed by the prince and acting in his name. That is to say, 
the highest religious or ecclesiastical body in the state was under 
the control of the secular authority. In connection with the con- 



10 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

sistory we find provision for synods, general and particular. A 
general synod was made up of the consistory and the superinten- 
dents of the various districts within its jurisdiction; the partic- 
ular synod was merely the superintendent with all the clergy 
within his district. 

Such are the main outlines of the organization of church and 
state in Protestant Germany. The tendency was toward cen- 
tralization of civil and ecclesiastical power in the hands of the 
prince. The church was, from a certain point of view, merely 
one of the phases of administration for which the prince was 
responsible to God. This meant that the government of the 
church was ultimately in the hands of the secular authority just 
as truly as was the administering of finance or the dispensing of 
justice. 

A very large part of the material upon which this study is 
based is to be found in the legislation which was promulgated 
directly or indirectly by the secular government, the Kirchen- 
ordnungen. While it is hardly possible to give a concise defini- 
tion of that term (translated into English as church ordinances), 
the following statement wdll make clear the general nature of the 
material: Kirchenordnungen is the name given all those regu- 
lations, especially those issued by cities and sovereigns, by means 
of which the church regulations which had previously been given 
were modified according to Reformation ideas, and the newly 
developed church system was more fully organized. (See article 
on Kirchenordnung in Herzog's Realencyclopddie fur protestant- 
ische Theologie). 

The Need for Regulations. In the destruction and confusion 
incident to the Protestant Revolt churches and schools fell into 
a precarious and chaotic condition. The leaders seemed un- 
certain what was necessary or desirable. Even where they did 
gain individual certainty they were not always able to agree 
among themselves what course should be pursued; but the very 
nature of affairs demanded that there should be some mutual 
agreement, that the two groups of leaders, political and religious, 
should enter upon some kind of united course of action which 
should produce order and establish the new churches upon a firm 
foundation. As the Revolt swept away the monasteries and 
schools of the Roman church or remodeled them according to 



Introduction: The Sources 11 

Protestant ideas, it was necessary that there be set forth definite 
principles for the establishment and maintenance of the new 
institutions. Church and school ordinances had long been in 
existence ; but they were not suited to the needs of the Protestant 
movement. In the matter of education the following needs were 
evident: (1) that schools should be strictly orthodox from the 
Protestant point of view; (2) that adequate support should be 
provided and administered; (3) that there should be drawn into 
the schools a sufficient number of talented boys to ensure plenty 
of reliable, trained leaders for the future; (4) that suitable teachers 
should be provided; (5) that all the people should be given such 
education as would enable them to participate intelligently in 
the services of the church in addition to knowing such things as 
were necessary to their eternal welfare; (6) that proper super- 
vision should be established and order secured from chaos. To 
supply this composite need the various church ordinances, school 
regulations, visitation instructions, and general articles furnished 
the material. Without such legislation progress would have 
been very slow if not absolutely impossible. Every parish 
would have been a law unto itself; there could have been no 
system; disorder and consequent misunderstandings would have 
destroyed the very things for which the Protestants were striving. 
The need of uniform church regulations is voiced in the Saxon 
Visitation Book of 1528; but the idea seems to be that they shall 
be introduced only in such cases as represent situations in which 
it is impossible to dispense with them. Luther's early idea of 
the need of such legislation is in very great contrast with the 
development which followed. His belief and desire were that 
there should be the utmost freedom of development, that there 
should be gradual growth unhampered by narrow prescriptions. 
He believed that the early regulations of Wittenberg (1522), 
Leisnig (1523), and Magdeburg (1524) were premature. While 
he made certain suggestions for the administering of the Lord's 
Supper and of Baptism (1523) and also published a collection of 
hymns for public worship (1524), he did not regard his work as 
binding upon the churches in the least degree; he even insisted 
that the Wittenberg regulations be cancelled. Although he 
recognized the pressing need of proper administration of pastoral 
functions, of caring for the poor, and of providing adequate 



12 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

means of education, he did not believe that such affairs would 
be best regulated through binding uniform rules. In the Saxon 
School Plan of 1528 Melanchthon says, "The clergy shall ad- 
monish the people to send their children to school in order that 
men may be educated, able to teach in the churches and also to 
govern. ... In order to attain these qualifications one must 
study long, — from his youth up. . . . And such persons are 
not for the church alone but for the secular government as well, 
as is also according to the will of God." (Vormbaum I: 1, 2.) 
The necessity which demanded the organization of churches and 
the establishment of a system of schools for the training of fu- 
ture leaders brought forth the legislation which contained the 
rules and governing principles upon which these institutions 
were based. It was then the impossibility of developing church 
and school without special legislation that made evident the 
need of the various forms of Ordnungen. 

Content. While the church and school regulations show lit- 
tle uniformity in the details of their material or its arrange- 
ment (except as will be shown later in the discussion of groups 
or "families"), there is in the church ordinances at least a gen- 
eral similarity of content. Three matters were universally under 
consideration: the administration of the functions and sacra- 
ments of the church; the care of the poor; and the nurture of the 
young. As a rule there is a first part, called "Credenda," which 
is dogmatic in its nature and is, in more or less definite form, an 
expression of the agreement of the city or provincial church with 
the general Lutheran confession of faith. This is followed by 
the "Agenda," which contains provisions concerning liturgy, 
appointment of church officers, organization of church govern- 
ment, discipline, matrimony, school regulations, income of church 
and school, administration of church property, care of the poor 
etc. It is not to be expected that this material will always be 
arranged in systematic order. 

A good example of a comprehensive Kirchenordnung is that of 
Hamburg, 1529. Its contents are as follows: 

1. Of schools. 

2. On the sifting of pupils by the teacher (selection of pupils able to pro- 

ceed beyond a certain point in the course). 

3. On the permanence of schools. 



Introduction: The Sources 13 

4. Public Lectures. 

5. The library. 

6. German writing schools. 

7. Girls' schools. 

8. Students. 

9. Pastors, chaplains, and other clergymen. 

10. The superintendent and his assistant. 

11. Selection of teachers and predicants. 

12. The reception of such persons into the work of the church. 

13. The work of predicants. 

14. Sermons on Sundays and feast days. 

15. Preaching on Saturdays and Mondays. 

16. Preaching on other week days. 

17. Special times for instruction in the catechism. 

18. The paschal season. 

19. Sacred stories at other seasons. 

20. On preaching in Lent. 

21. Confession and sacrament. 

22. Visitation of sick and poor. 

23. Matrimony 

24. The bans. 

25. Consecration. 

26. Visitation of criminals. 

27. Children baptized at home. 

28. Baptism of children according to our "use." 

29. Support of predicants. 

30. Sextons. 

31. Organists. 

32. Midwives. 

33. Pictures and images. 

34. Ringing the call to prayer for peace.* 

35. Festivals. 

36. Business to be avoided on the afternoon of the holy day. 

37. Singing and teading by pupils in the parish churches. 

38. The Mass. 

39. Administration of the Mass. 

40. The "Common Chest" and the deacon in charge of it. 

41. Administration of funds for the poor. 

42. Administration of funds. 

43. The deacon in charge of the funds. 

44. The four councillors. 

45. General accounting of the stewards. 

46. Stewards. 

47. Of stewards in general. 

48. Miscellaneous. 

49. Conclusion. 



"Wen me pro pace slegt. 



14 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

Schulordnungen are likewise diverse in content. Some contain 
very little more than a mere statement of the kind of school to 
be organized and maintained, with a brief statement of the most 
important general regulations. Others are very comprehensive 
and go into minute detail, even prescribing hours, text-books, 
methods, and rules for the conduct of teachers and pupils. An 
excellent example of the brief Schulordnung is that of the mar- 
graviate of Baden-Durlach, 1526. Its contents comprise only a 
brief prescription of the following: 1. Duties of the teacher. 2. 
Course of study with a few details of method. 3. Provision for 
special students. 4. Maintenance. 

In contrast with this stands a Schulordnung like that of Brieg, 
1581 {Illustris Scholae Bregensis Constitutiones in duas partes 
digestae, quarum prior doctrinae posterior disciplinae rationem 
complectitur; cum. indice rerum, quae in utraque parte continentur. 
Rectore M. Petro Sickio in publicum amissae). 

Part I 

1. Introductory. General need and purpose of education. 

2. Class division and basis of division. Each class is treated separately 

and work is prescribed for each day of the week. Thus, for the Fourth 
Class the following is prescribed for Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, 
and Fridays: 

At six o'clock: Catechism. 

At seven o'clock: Reading. 

At eight o'clock: Presentation of dialogues by boys in pairs. 

After that follow exercises in Latin forms. 

At twelve o'clock : Writing and correction of exercises (Latin and 
German). 

At one o'clock: Declensions, conjugations, etc. 

At two o'clock: Exercises for increasing vocabulary, — with short 
statement of method. 

3. Disputations and declamations. 

4. Holidays. 

5. Examinations and promotions. 

Part II 

1. The rector: Duties and jurisdiction. 

2. Duties of professors and associates. 

3. Duties of pupils in general. 

4. Piety. 

5. Duties of pupils to teachers. 

6. Duties of pupils in school. 

7. Instruction in regard to study, style, and memory work. (11 rules.) 



Introduction: The Sources 15 

8. Dismissal. (Four rules in regard to leaving school and going home.) 

9. Conduct on the street. (10 rules.) 

10. Conduct and service at home. (10 rules.) 

11. Duties to strangers. (11 rules.) 

12. Duties of paedagogi and assistants. (13 rules governing the conduct of 

those, who, while students, are private instructors.) 

13. Duties of those who live in the halls. (12 rules.) 

14. School employees. (10 rules.) 

15. Funerals. (10 rules.) 

16. Punishments. (10 rules.) 

17. Duties of decurions and monitors. (10 rules.) 

18. Disputation and declamation. (10 rules.) 

19. The poor and the holders of stipends. (10 rules.) 

20. Recreation and refreshment. (21 rules.) 

Conclusion. Admonition to teachers and pupils to keep the rules. 

Very often material of a trivial nature finds its way into the 
Schulordnungen. This seems to be more generally the case where 
the rules are formulated by schoolmen themselves than where 
they are merely part of a Kirchenordnung formulated by men 
primarily interested in ecclesiastical matters. While regulations 
prepared specifically for a certain school are likely to prescribe 
such details as the manner in which pupils should greet teachers, 
the general regulations embodied in the Kirchenordnungen are 
not likely to contain material other than broad instructions in 
regard to the course of study, maintenance, selection of teachers, 
and similar administrative matters. But there is no exact line 
to be drawn; for even the Kirchenordnungen occasionally descend 
to the trivial in school matters; for example, that of Wiirttem- 
berg (1559) prescribes that pupils are not to go to school with- 
out their coats. (Part II, Statuta, No. 4, Vormbaum I: 93.) 

Authorship. The authorship of the various Kirchen- und Schul- 
ordnungen may be traced to the leading men of the church. Of 
those regulations which bear closely upon schools and educational 
history many bear the names of men famous in the Protestant 
Revolt. First of all stands Melanchthon. He was concerned 
in the writing of at least nine. The following are his work: 
Niirnberg (1526) probably, Saxony (1528), Herzeberg (1538) 
and Wittenberg (1545). The following are in part his work: 
Eisleben (1525), Cologne (1543), Mecklenburg (1552), the Pala- 
tinate (1556), and Pfalz-Zweibriick (1557). Luther was likewise 
deeply interested in this work. He was the author of the Witten- 



16 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

berg Church Regulations of 1523 and was concerned in the writ- 
ing of the following: Leisnig (1525), Lippe (1538), and Herzberg 
(1538). Johannes Bugenhagen was author of the following: 
Brunswick (1528), Hamburg (1529), Ltibeck (1531), Pomerania 
(1535), Schleswig-Holstein (1537), Brunswick- Wolf enbiittel (1543), 
and Hildesheim (1544). In addition to this work, he assisted 
in the making of the following: Wittenberg (1533) and Lippe 
(1538). The so-called "Wittenberg Reformation" of 1545 al- 
though written by Melanchthon is signed by Bugenhagen also. 
Johannes Aepin is credited with the following: Stralsund (1525), 
Hamburg (1539), Buxtehude (1552). It is possible that he assist- 
ed Bugenhagen in the writing of the Hamburg Ordnung of 1529. 
At any rate, to Aepin was left the work of putting the plan into 
operation. Trotzendorf, the celebrated pupil of Melanchthon, 
wrote the Goldberg Schulordnung of 1546 and the School Laws 
for the same place in the same year. In addition to these men 
we find a great many others ; among them, Nikolaus Krage, Hein- 
rich Winkel (Gottingen Kirchenordnung 1530), Martin Butzer 
(Ulm 1531), Urbanus Rhegius (Liineberg 1531, and Hamburg 
1536), Johann Timann (Bremen 1534), Antonius Corvinus (Nord- 
heim, 1539, Kalenberg-Gottingen 1542, and in part Hildesheim 
1544, and Brunswick- Wolf enbiittel 1543), Johannes Honterus 
(Kronstadt 1543), and Johann Brenz (parts of Pfalz-Zweibriick 
1556 and of the great Wiirttemberg Kirchenordnung of 1559)- 

In addition to these there are many others (the total number of 
Ordnungen of various kinds being several hundred) which grew 
out of local needs and were adapted to some special or tempor- 
ary occasion.^ 

Groups or '' Families. " From what has been said of the author- 
ship of the various church and school laws, it will readily be seen 
that many of them fall into groups according to authorship. 
Further than this, the regulations laid down by famous men like 
Melanchthon and Bugenhagen often served as models upon which 
were based other ordinances, thus enlarging the group. The 



1 Sehling prints 209 in his first volume, 153 in the second, and 119 in the 
third, — a total of 481, with perhaps two volumes to follow. The celebrated 
Bokehnann collection contained 162 Ordnungen of the sixteenth century; 
and Mertz has a list of 115 church and school ordinances, which he regards 
as exceptionally significant. 



Introduction: The Sources 17 

Visitation Instructions of Saxony (1528) became the basis of 
Bugenhagen's Kirchenordnung for Brunswick (1528). Upon 
these two were based the regulations of Hamburg (1529), Ltibeck 
(1531), Pomerania (1535), and Schleswig-Holstein (1542). The 
Brunswick regulations were still further the progenitor of the 
following series: Minden (1530), Gottingen (1530), Soest (1532), 
Wittenberg (1533), Bremen (1534), Brunswick- Wolfenbiittel 
(1543), Osnabriick (1543), Bergedorf (1544), and probably others. 
In turn Wittenberg (1533) of the foregoing series is the basis of 
the Halle regulations of 1541; Pomerania (1535) of the ordinance 
of 1563 for the same place; Schleswig-Holstein (1542) of Hadeln 
(1544); Brunswick- Wolf enbuttel (1543) of Hildesheim (1544). 

Another great "family" is derived from the Artikel des Visita- 
tionskonvents zu Schwahach and the Visitationsordnung des Mark- 
grafen Georg von Brandenburg of 1528. In this group are the 
following: Brandenburg (1533, 1540, and 1553), Nurnberg (1533), 
Mecklenburg (1540), Wurttemberg (1536), Neumark (1538), 
Cologne Reformation (1543), Schweinfurt (1543) and Waldeck 
(1556). 

In some cases there is a combination of sources; for example, 
the Mecklenburg Kirchenordnung of 1552 derives material from 
Saxony of 1528, 1539, and the Wittenberg Reformation of 1545. 
The Palatinate Kirchenordnung of 1563 comes from the Branden- 
burg-Nuremberg (1533), Saxony (1539), Geneva Liturgie (1541) 
— through the medium of Frankfort a-M. 1554 — , the Kirchen- 
ordnung of Johannes a Lasco of 1550, and the French Evangelical 
of 1563. (Herzog Vol. X.) 

Authority under which Ordnungen were issued. Ordnungen of 
great importance applying to large districts were promulgated 
in the name of the governing princes. Sometimes the ruler him- 
self issued the ordinance directly ; and sometimes this was done by 
a committee acting with his authority. The Ordnung of Cleve, 
1532, was promulgated by Duke John; that of Pomerania, 1535, 
by Barnym and Philip; that of Wurttemberg, 1536, by Count 
Ulrich; while the very important Saxon Unterricht der Visitatoren 
an die Pfarhern of 1528 was issued under authority of Elector 
John by the Visitation Committee. In the cities the custom was 
for the council to issue Ordnung with the approval of the parish 
(Gemeinde) or of the citizens (Burger). The Hamburg Kirchen- 



18 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

ordnung of 1529, of which Bugenhagen was the author, was issued 
"durch Raths- und Biirgerheschluss" ; that of Brunswick, 1528, 
by "Radt und Gemeinde'' ; that of Northeim, 1539, by " Radt, 
Gilden, und Gemein." Within the group of Kirchenordnungen 
come also those regulations which were issued by bishops to their 
dioceses and even those instructions issued by local pastors to 
their parishes. But in general we find that in the sixteenth 
century these ordinances concerning church and school affairs 
were issued as ordinary matters of state legislation and were 
regarded as such. 

The various forms of promulgation may be summed up as fol- 
lows: (1) by the ruling prince; (2) by a committee appointed by 
him; (3) by the prince and the local magistrates; (4) by the 
local magistrates and council; (5) by the local council with the 
consent of the citizens, the parish, or the gilds; (6) by a bishop; 
and (7) even by a local, pastor. 

Enforcement of Church Regulations. The theory that it was 
the duty of the evangelical states to maintain and protect the 
Protestant churches gradually developed, especially after the 
Peasants' War. From that time the earlier liberal ideas in regard 
to the universal priesthood of believers and particularly in re- 
gard to the advisability of diversity in church matters gave 
way to the theory that the secular power must, as the repre- 
sentative of the community of believers, accomplish the work 
of organizing and maintaining the church.^ This means that 
the regulations of the various state churches of the sixteenth 
century had a relation to the secular government altogether 
different from that which the Protestant Episcopal, Roman 
CathoUc, or Methodist Episcopal "Discipline" has in this country 
at the present time. The secular government, as a power or- 
dained of God, was responsible for the proper government of the 
church as well as of the state. The principle, "Cujus regio, ejus 
religio, " of the Religious Peace of Augsburg could be interpreted 
only as making the prince responsible for the church within his 
territory. It is not to be inferred, however, that all the different 
Kirchenordnungen coming from the various sources enumerated 
in the discussion of the authority under which they were issued 



* See Lindsay, History of the Reformation, 1 : 400, if. 



Introduction: The Sources 19 

had the status of civil laws. But there was behind the church 
regulations a general background of secular support. The act- 
ual administration was largely if not entirely in the hands of the 
church, the clergyman with the greatest responsibility being the 
Superintendent of the district. 

A special form of investigation and adjustment which has a 
great value for this study of teachers is found in the Church 
Visitation. As early as 1528 there began in the Electorate of 
Saxony a visitation which later served as a model for all the evan- 
gelical states of Germany. The Visitors went into every parish 
and made a careful investigation of the (1) "cure of souls" 
(Seelsorge), that is, preaching, the dispensation of the sacraments, 
catechetical instruction, and the pastoral visitation of the sick; 
(2) the instruction of the youth; (3) the care of the poor. They 
held conferences with parish priests; they interviewed the heads 
of families; they conferred with the local councils. The records 
of these visitations (called Registraturen, or Protokolle) give the 
most available account of conditions that actually existed in 
church and school during this period. 

Burkhardt has published a careful study of the Saxon church 
and school visitations for the period 1524 to 1545.^ This affords 
a valuable introduction into the subject; although it does not 
present copies of any of the original Protokolle. He furnishes a 
great number of tables showing results of the visitation in various 
"circles" and at different times. There is naturally little that 
has direct bearing upon the schools. Pallas has edited a numerous 
series of the reports of visitors in such a way as to make them 
directly available to the student.^ This work actually presents 
(in edited form) the reports and records of the Visitation Com- 
mittees. It is to this material that one must go in order to learn 
how the regulations which were laid down in the Ordnungen were 
actually observed. It is somewhat disappointing in its content 
since the Visitors were much more concerned with the practical 



1 Burkhardt, C. A. H., Geschichte der sachsischen Kirchen- und Schulvisi- 
tationen von 1524 bis 1545, Leipzig, 1879. 

2 Pallas, Karl, Die Registraturen der Kirchenvisitationen im ehemals 
sachsischen Kurkreise. Herausgegeben von der Historischen Kommission 
fiir die Provinz Sachsen und das Herzogtum Anhalt. Four parts in three 
volumes, Halle, 1906. 



20 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

problem of support of church and school than with various other 
matters which would be of much greater interest for the pur- 
poses of this study. Only here and there does one find the much- 
desired pictures of local schoolmasters or statements of the social 
conditions in which they lived; although nearly every report 
shows how much the teacher is paid and what sources of income 
he has. If it had not been for the practice of giving special op- 
portunity to schoolmasters to voice their complaints and to 
patrons of the school to state their attitude toward the teacher, 
the records would be practically without material bearing upon 
the work of teaching. The condition of church affairs, matters 
of doctrine and finance, the training and orthodoxy of ministers, 
general moral and religious conditions with special reference to 
signs of outbreaking immorality, and the attitude of the people 
toward the work of the church hold a much more prominent 
place than the condition of school teachers. From the atten- 
tion given to church lands and revenues and the administration 
of church funds, one is forced to the inference that the Visitation 
Committees were attempting to give a "business" administra- 
tion. 

The purpose of this study is to use all this material and such 
other as is available in such a way as to show the condition of 
the teaching body of the time, to show the advantages and dis- 
advantages under which they worked, to give as clear a picture 
as possible of their character and attainments, and in general to 
deal with them from a point of view external to the school room. 
Further than this an effort has been made to learn what ten- 
dencies are to be discovered in the legislation and conditions 
of the period in so far as teachers reveal them or are affected by 
them. No attempt has been made to deal with the actual work 
of the teacher within the school itself as such a study would lead 
into too wide a field for this work. The reader need expect no 
discussion of such topics as courses of study, school room methods 
and management, or other problems which grow out of the teach- 
er's immediate contact with his pupils in the process of instruc- 
tion. 



CHAPTER II 
KINDS OF TEACHERS AND THEIR NUMBER 

Two distinct types of schools stand out in the sixteenth cen- 
tury, the one German, the other Latin. Although the German 
school was not completely developed, it was slowly progressing 
from the stage where the chief purpose was to give catechetical 
instruction, to a higher plane where the work embodied at least 
rudiments of intellectual education. Included in this class are 
the schools for girls (Madchenschulen) and those for boys {deut- 
sche Knahenschulen or merely deutsche Schulen). The work was 
purely elementary, catechism, reading, and writing being the 
principal or sole parts of the curriculum. In the latter part of 
the century there developed also German writing schools {Modist- 
enschulen, "deutsche Schreiberei und Rechenschulen") the pur- 
pose of which was to give special preparation to such boys as 
expected to enter the service of the state or community in the 
capacity of clerks, secretaries, and the like. The Wiirttemberg 
Ordinance of 1559 gives the first official recognition of the need 
of such institutions in a section which shows clearly that they 
were distinct from the ordinary vernacular schools {deutsche 
Schulen). Merz sees in the Modistenschulen the forerunners of 
the Realschulen, citing as evidence the fact that both attempted 
to supply the same need, that of preparing for official service 
such boys as did not wish to study Latin, and the coincidence 
that as the number of Realschulen increased that of Modisten- 
schulen decreased, the latter finally disappearing early in the 
nineteenth century. 

Such vernacular institutions were naturally not intended to 
meet the needs of the learned class. Supplying such needs was 
the work of the Latin school, an institution distinctly prepara- 
tory in its nature, with work leading up to university entrance. 
In a rather loose way, all these preparatory institutions were 
called Particular Schulen, in contrast with the university, Stu- 



22 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

dium Generate. They were also called Trivial Schulen, as the 
curriculum was wholly or partly the trivium (grammar, rhetoric, 
and logic). But often a distinction was made in the use of the 
two terms. In that case, the word particular was used to desig- 
nate those larger institutions which gave complete preparation 
for the university; while the term trivial was applied to those 
smaller schools which could give only part of such preparation. 
In general the tendency seems to have been toward the latter 
usage; but it is not safe in any case to draw a definite conclusion 
from the name without further facts. 

In the most elementary German school the teacher was called 
the Ge man schoolmaster (der deutsche Schulmeister) ; although 
in reality he was often merely the sexton and had no other title 
than that, — Gustos, Kuster, Aedituus, Kirchendiener, Kirchen- 
schreiher, Schreiber, Glockner, Opfermann, Leuter, and Schul- 
meister being variously used for this office. It was generally in 
the smaller places that the sexton had to add the work of teach- 
ing to his other burdens. In the special schools for teaching 
writing and computation, the teacher was called a Modist, that 
is, a writer with some certain style (mode). The teacher of the 
girls' school was almost always called the schoolmistress {Schul- 
meisterin); but in some cases a schoolmaster held the position. 

In the Latin school the title of the teacher depended upon the 
rank. Where there were two teachers, the superior was called 
the Schulmeister or Ludirector. His assistant was the Cantor or 
the Gustos (sexton). The same titles were used in a school with 
three teachers, — the sexton then holding the lowest place. In 
schools with four teachers, the arrangement was as follows: (1) 
Rector, Ludirector, Magister, or Meister; (2) Conrector, Suhrector, 
Supremus, or Cantor; (3) Baccalaureus or Pddagoge; (4) Caiitor, 
Infimus, Baccalaureus, or Pddagoge. If there were five teachers, 
the titles were about the same. The third in rank might be 
called the Medius. Where there was a large number, the lower 
positions were sometimes designated by the Latin ordinals, Quar- 
tus, Quintus, Sextus. An assistant teacher might also be called 
Proeceptor, Collaborator, or merely associate (Gesell). The title 
of Professor, generally reserved to the university, was sometimes 
given to teachers in the higher preparatory schools, as in Brieg, 
1581 (Vormbaum I: 336). In the Niirnberg Schulordnung of 



Kinds of Teachers and Their Number 23 

1526 (probably written by Melanchthon) all teachers were called 
Professores. This title was given only to teachers in the upper 
classes (Gymnasium Academicum) in the Burgsteinfurt Schulord- 
nung of 1596, the other instructors ( i.e., in the five lower classes) 
being called ProBceptores. (Vormbaum I: 647.) The Hamburg 
Kirchenordnung of 1529 calls for the following seven teachers in 
a five-class school : Rector, Subrector, Cantor, and four Pddagogen, 
In the Annaberg Latin School, the following are mentioned by 
the Visitation Committee of 1539: Schulmeister, Supremus, Me- 
dius, Cantor, and Infimus. The Kirchenordnung of Pomerania 
in 1563 calls for a Ludirector, a Conrector, a Cantor, and at least 
two Collaboratores. 

Difference in rank corresponded as a rule with responsibility 
advancement of the class instructed, and salary. The Rector oi 
Schulmeister had general supervision of the school and gave at 
least part of the instruction in the higher classes. His assistant 
in these duties was the second in rank. Then followed the vari- 
ous subordinate instructors, few or many according to the size of 
the school. 

The matter of employing pupil teachers seems to have come 
up occasionally; but there is not enough evidence available to 
enable one to assert that they were found except in rare cases. 
The Registraturen of the Visitation in the parish of Schmiedgberg, 
Ephorie of Kemberg, Saxony (1555), state that upon appLcation 
for a third teacher upon the ground that the work of the school 
was too heavy for the two instructors already employed, the lo- 
cal authorities gained permission to employ a "Biirger's son of 
suitable age and capacity" (presumably a student); but a later 
statement shows that a third regular teacher was employed 
instead. It is certain that in the celebrated Annaberg Latin 
School the older boys were sometimes employed as pupil teachers. 
Paul Bartusch {Die Lateinschule, p. 63) states that at the very 
beginning of the Reformation period Anton Beuther wrote to 
the council that instead of the fifth teacher it would be possible 
to employ one or two of the pupils who were advanced enough to 
teach the younger children reading and writing. In 1557, four 
of the older pupils were actually employed in hearing the lessons 
of the younger children {in parvulis audiendis). "In the Schul- 
ordnung of 1578, these helpers are even counted in the number of 



24 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

instructors. They spend two hours each morning and one or 
two hours each afternoon in giving the beginning exercises in 
reading, writing, speaking, and singing, — the latter with the as- 
sistance of the choristers. In addition to this, they conduct 
the young pupils to church. But it is expressly stated that, 
aside from the duties mentioned, they are to be counted as stu- 
dents and that within these certain limits they are to act as 
teachers until a sixth teacher is installed. (Bartusch, p. 64.) 

The number of teachers in individual schools has been indi- 
cated to a limited extent in the foregoing discussion of rank and 
title; but no general statement can be made in regard to the num- 
ber of instructors required in a school of any particular type. 
In very small places a single teacher might give instruction in 
Latin, as was the case in at least thirty-nine schools in the Elec- 
torate of Saxony at the time of the Visitation of 1578-1579. 
The Saxony School Plan of 1528 made provision for schools with 
three classes, that of 1580 for five divisions; but the number of 
teachers does not always correspond with the number of pre- 
scribed classes. In electoral Saxony (1578-1579) there were in 
addition to the thirty-nine schools already mentioned, thirty- 
two with two teachers each, fourteen with three each, ten with 
four each, three (Chemnitz, Sangerhausen, and Neustadt) with 
five each, four (Dresden, Freiberg, Annaberg, and Zwickau) with 
six each, and only one (the Nikolai Schule in Leipzig) with seven. 
(Bartusch, p. 65.) The Stralsund Kirchenordnung of 1525 pro- 
vided that each Latin school should have at least three teachers 
"of the arts and God's Word." The Brunswick- Wolf enbiittel 
Kirchenordnung of 1543 and the Brandenburg Schulordnung of 
1564 prescribed four classes; Hamburg (1529), Wiirttemberg 
(1582) and Aschersleben (1589), for six; and Magdeburg (1553), 
for seven; and Augsburg (1576) for nine with a special auditorium 
for advanced students. Sturm's Plan of 1565 provided for a 
ten-class division. While it is impossible to say that there was 
at least one teacher for every class, it is undoubtedly true that 
the tendency was in this direction. The ducal Saxon Ordnung 
of 1573 states specifically that there shall be a teacher for each 
class, "because the school suffers injury when an instructor 
teaches different classes." Where the number of teachers ex- 
ceeded the number of classes, the lowest and the highest divisions 



Kinds of Teachers and Their Number 25 

generally had the extra instructors. This was because the pupils 
in the lowest class were the most numerous and also the most 
heterogeneous; while in the case of the highest class the rector 
could give only part of his time on account of his administrative 
duties. (Mertz, p. 366.) 

In regard to the total number of teachers, little is to be said 
beyond the fact that it was far below that of the clergy. Prac- 
tically every parish had its ordained minister; while only the 
larger towns in each district (Ephorie) had schoolmasters. In 
the Electorate of Saxony at the time of the Visitation of 1528-29, 
there were only twenty-one schools mentioned in one hundred 
and forty-six parishes. According to Burkhardt's list (Gesch. 
d. Sachs. Kirchen- und Schulvisitation, pp. 256-270) the Visita- 
tion in Meissen (1540) shows only twenty-five schools in five 
hundred and ten parishes, Dresden, Pirna, Annaberg, and Meissen 
being included; the Visitation in Thuringia in the same year, six 
schools in one hundred and ninety-two parishes; that in Merse- 
burg (1544-45), two schools in eighty-six parishes. That is to 
say, in the vast majority of cases the reports of the Visitatores 
show only the pastor and the sexton with merely the occasional 
mention of a school teacher. Inasmuch as the Visitatores were 
required to inspect schools as well as churches, it is to be inferred 
that failure to mention a school generally if not always means 
that there was none. The Registraturen of 1578-79 do not show 
any increase in the comparative number of schools in Saxony. 
The total number of Latin schools (gelehrte Mittelschulen) found 
by Mertz and listed by him is three hundred and forty-two. This 
statement includes all those schools founded or reformed through 
evangelical influences during the sixteenth century. 

Although the various Kirchenordnungen made provision for 
German schools in which the rudiments of formal learning should 
be given, the sixteenth century saw comparatively few such institu- 
tions. Fischer (p. 87) says that in 1556 there were only seven such 
schools in all the villages of lower Saxony; that when the matter 
of establishing village schools in Nassau was under considera- 
tion in 1552 it was found that all the sextons, with one exception, 
were unable to read and this one person had no inclination to 
hold school; that in only three places did the pastors show a 
willingness to assume the burden of giving instruction to the 



26 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

children. Fischer further states that a book on the history of 
the Volksschulen in Schleswig (author not mentioned) cites 
seventy schools that arose in various villages upon the introduc- 
tion of the Reformation or shortly after; but it is impossible to 
tell in how many of them reading and writing were taught. In 
the edition of the Registraturen of electoral Saxony by Pallas is 
found the following statement, probably by a general superin- 
tendent: "Of the German schools mentioned therein (that is, 
in the Ordnung) there is not a single such school in the whole 
electoral district." As the earlier Saxon ordinances do not men- 
tion German schools, while that of 1580 does, it is reasonable to 
infer that as far as the knowledge of the writer of the report went 
such schools did not exist in the Electorate of Saxony at that 
time (shortly after 1580). 

In Wiirttemberg (1537) German schools were given little at- 
tention, although Latin schools were cultivated with some dili- 
gence. The schoolmaster in Urach was forbidden to burden him- 
self with the boys who wished to study German. They were to 
be given over to the sexton. Even where the so-called Schreiber 
(writing teachers) had conducted German schools that work was 
gradually turned over to the sextons. (Eugen Schneider, Wurt- 
temhergsche Reformationsgeschichte, pp. 61, 62.) 



CHAPTER III 
CHARACTER AND TRAINING 

In the absence of an accurate scale of moral values with def- 
inite records covering a large number of cases it is exceedingly 
hard to give a clear and comprehensive statement of the general 
character of the whole teaching body in the evangeUcal schools 
of Germany in the sixteenth century. Opinion however is unan- 
imously agreed that the conditions which actually existed were 
not ideal. Bartusch, for example, says: " There is, on the whole, 
little good to report of the teaching profession of this period. 
And in the Erzgebirge region especially, Gehmlich shows from 
direct source material that their scientific and practical efficiency 
was only moderate, their diligence and fidelity to duty slight, 
and their moral conduct often offensive." (Bartusch, Annaberg 
Latin School, p. 85.) Even Mertz, who has a very keen appre- 
ciation of the merits of the teachers and the adverse circum- 
stances under which they were compelled to work, says that in 
the evangelical schools they were far below the ideal which the 
Reformers held. But in an age when even clergymen were often 
found unsuited to their work and neglectful of their duties, it 
is not surprising to find that schoolmasters, then generally re- 
garded as belonging to an inferior branch of the ministry of the 
church, were not always men of the very highest character. We 
cannot expect to find an especially high average in a profession 
which even Luther says "is esteemed as disagreeably low as if 
it were nothing." (Ein Sermon oder Predigt, dass man solle 
Kinder zu Schule halten.) 

The makers of church and school ordinances agree in demand- 
ing very high character in teachers. In the lower schools 
(deutsche Schulen), "pious, god-fearing, peaceable" men are gen- 
erally required; as, for example in the Lippe Ordnung of 1571. 
(Vormbaum I: 225.) In the girls' schools the demand is for "a 



28 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

respectable, mature, unblameable woman (Richter I: 13) or "a 
pious and honorable man with a respectable and pious wife." 
(Mertz, 473.) "God-fearing and respectable" are the adjectives 
which generally describe the characteristics desired in a teacher 
in the lower schools, whether for boys or for girls. 

Four special virtues of the teacher are enumerated in the 
Regulations for the School in Giistrow (1572): diligence, faith- 
fulness, honorable life, and friendliness. (In poedagogis quattuor 
virtutes maxime necessarioe sunt: diligentia, fidelitas, honestas 
vitoe, comitas.) (Vormbaum I: 580.) 

In the definite statements of requirements more attention was 
paid to the moral character of the teacher in the lower schools 
than to his intellectual equipment. In the Latin schools the in- 
tellectual and moral are combined in statements of require- 
ments. Wimpheling, though not a Protestant, has given a de- 
scription of the school teacher which may be regarded as show- 
ing what was considered ideal in the sixteenth century. "He 
must be noble in character, gentle and friendly, agreeable in 
his speech, worthy in his conduct, lively and forceful in his in- 
struction, strict in discipline, but not gruff. He must carry 
every student upon his loving heart. Never vexed in his work, 
he must answer questions gladly and encourage the diffident." 
(Fischer I: III: 49.) 

In general the moral requirements were very high. The Leis- 
nig Kastenordnung of 1523 calls for a "pious and unblameable 
man" (Richter I: 13); Hesse (1526) for a man "of good morals" 
(Vormbaum 1:4); Brunswick (1528) for "honorable, respectable 
masters and associates" (Vormbaum I: 10); Hesse (1537) for 
"capable, pious, learned, and god-fearing men" (Vormbaum I: 
33). According to the Waldeck Ordnung of 1556, "Schoolmasters 
and Ludimagistri shall be grounded in the Catholic, apostolic 
Christian doctrine, adorned with good and honorable conduct 
and morals." (Richter II: 175.) In the Palatinate (1556), the 
teacher must be "god-fearing and diligent" and furthermore he 
must furnish information in regard to his previous life and con- 
duct. (Vormbaum I: 67.) Brieg (1581) prescribed that the rec- 
tor be of "remarkable piety, goodness, faithfulness, and dili- 
gence" and of "honorable morals and integrity of life." (Vorm- 
baum I: 322.) The character desired in the teachers of Liine- 



Character and Training 29 

burg (1564) may be inferred from the following statement: "In 
order that the youth may receive good and profitable instruction, 
superintendents and pastors shall exercise great care that such 
persons be given charge of schools as are suited to the work and 
can give the youth instruction that will make them useful, pious, 
morally good, and trained in the arts and languages." (Vorm- 
baum I: 179.) 

One may get some light on the character of teachers by learn- 
ing some of the things which were forbidden them. Assuming 
that the following restrictions made in the Breslau Schulordnung 
of 1570 were necessary, one must infer that the teachers were 
rather wild: "They shall stay at home, especially at night, since 
unseasonable absence is rarely without the suspicion that they 
are engaged in wrong-doing. They shall stay away from houses 
of prostitution and places of illfame. They shall not wander 
around nor promenade. They shall not have family quarrels 
nor stir up strife. They shall not break the commands of the 
master nor leave home without his consent. " The rules for Brieg 
(1581) likewise make it appear that the teachers were likely to 
go astray — if it be that they really needed the restriction pro- 
vided. 

The records preserved in the reports of the visitation com- 
mittees show that the ideals of the framers of school regula- 
tions were not attained in actual practice; although they do not 
always indicate clearly what the real conditions were. Where 
a teacher is actually removed for some delinquency, the matter 
is clear enough; but where the report makes no special mention 
of the character of the schoolmaster it is difficult to determine 
how good or how bad he was. It may be that his character 
was perfectly satisfactory and that his mere continuance in office 
is sufficient evidence of the fact. Or it may just as well be that 
while he showed a character that left much to be desired, he was 
not bad enough to make summary removal from office necessary. 
The incompleteness of the records may be explained upon such 
grounds as nepotism and other forms of favoritism, unwillingness 
of boards to act decisively, hope for improvement on the part of 
the teacher, nothing especially good or bad to report, reticence 
in regard to recording matters of disagreeable nature, or greater 
interest in other matters. 



30 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

The records in regard to the teachers of girls' schools are par- 
ticularly meager, partly on account of the small number of such 
schools and partly on account of the lack of interest in them. 
It may be, especially in the case of women teachers, that the 
absence of any specific record means that the character of the 
person involved was satisfactory, or at least demanded no spe- 
cific unfavorable action or record. Neglect on the part of the 
teacher is the commonest ground of complaint; for example, in 
Bitterfeld, Saxony, the following statement appears in the Regis- 
traturen of the Visitation of 1577: "Within a few years the girls' 
school has become very small because the schoolmaster is not 
diligent and is frequently away. The girls have no fear (Scheu) 
of his wife; and the respectable women of the community are 
greatly displeased with the frivolous conduct of the schoolmis- 
tress." (Pallas I: 2: 38, 39.) 

In the lower schools for boys, the teachers were frequently 
accused of laziness and neglect. Little being expected of them 
and little stress being placed upon the instruction they gave 
(the catechism excepted), it is hardly to be expected that they 
should rise to a very high level. That these teachers very often 
neglected their work cannot be denied. But in many cases the 
neglect was due less to laziness and lack of keen moral sense 
than to the necessity of increasing a very meager income through 
outside activities. Consequently when a schoolmaster was ac- 
cused of neglect he was very likely to reply that as his salary 
did not enable him to live he was compelled to neglect the school 
in order to increase his income. Time after time, when a school- 
master was accused of lack of interest and diligence, it was found 
that he was not altogether to blame, other duties making it im- 
possible for him to give the school his sole attention. Some 
light is cast upon the general moral conditions as well as upon 
the character of teachers by the frequent complaint that the 
schoolmaster manufactured and sold brandy. As early as 1557 
this means of increasing his income had been denied the school- 
master in the Electorate of Saxony; but at least twenty years 
later, accusation was brought against a teacher in the district 
of Prettin that he was causing trouble by the sale of drink, es- 
pecially brandy, in the building in which he held school. Two 
years later the record states: "The schoolmaster continues to 



Character and Training 31 

sell brandy and wines." Upon having his attention called to 
the fact that this had been forbidden, he showed that he paid 
excise to the Elector of Saxony, and said that he hoped that his 
wife (who carried on the business) would not be deprived of the 
means of making a living. "She had a room downstairs, while 
he taught the boys in a little room upstairs where they were not 
hindered or disturbed. There was no regular schoolbuilding in 
the place, and he, poor man, could make more money by using 
his little room for some other purpose than by keeping school 
in it." (Pallas 1:3: 59.) Teachers in the lower schools do not 
seem to have been able to withstand the attractions of the tavern 
to a greater degree than did their fellow-laborers in the Latin 
schools, details in regard to whom are given later. 

The record for the parish of Pratau in the district of Witten- 
berg states that the sexton-schoolmaster had neglected the school 
to such an extent that the number of pupils had in four years 
fallen from twenty-two to barely three. There is no further 
record beyond the statement that he was admonished to show 
greater diligence. (Pallas I: 1: 151.) In the records of the 
parish of Thobin, also in the district of Wittenberg, there is the 
peculiar statement that the pastor and the sexton have "good 
commendation" but that the latter has a "poor school" {eine 
schlechte Schule) with only three boys. (Pallas I: 1: 115.) The 
sexton in Wendishain, near Leisnig, at the time of the visitation 
of 1534 is described as "acting contrary to God's Word," also 
as being a "drunkard and wanton." "If he does not improve 
between now and next Saint Michael's Day, he is to be removed 
without further delay." (Fischer, p. 96.) His later conduct is 
not known. 

The worst faults of the teacher in the Latin school were ne- 
glect, lack of diligence, too great fondness for beer and hilarity, 
fighting, gambling, extravagance, and a too ardent desire to make 
money, especially by questionable means. 

In Zahna (1592), the schoolmaster was admonished to seek 
greater diligence in his work. He was to be given a half-year in 
which to show improvement. In case he did not reform he was to 
be dismissed. The record shows that as he was too weak to make 
the desired change he was removed. (Pallas I: 1: 405.) The 
visitation committee of 1555 casts the following reflection upon 



32 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

the cantor at Liebenwerda: "He pays more attention to shoot- 
ing than to playing the organ. '"^ Against the schoolmaster 
there was a written complaint by the patrons of the school to 
the effect that he was not diligent and was ruining the school 
(gar wiiste mache) . In this case the schoolmaster made a spirited 
reply to the accusation, saying that the complaint grew out of 
envy and hate because his duties as town clerk often compelled 
him to collect taxes, in the payment of which the people were 
remiss. It was then stated by the Hawptmann that the school- 
master "on account of indolence had no special educational 
equipment, that he liked to be a good fellow, and that he was 
fond of gambling and carousing." In fact, the Hawptmann had 
censured him and had also fined him five groschen. In spite of 
all that, the teacher had recently held some kind of orgy in the 
school. On the ground of these proceedings, the committee 
gave the schoolmaster the usual notice of dismissal (apparently a 
half-year) and admonished him to hold himself meanwhile above 
reproach. (W. Schmidt, Schriften des Vereins fiir Reformations- 
geschichte, 90: 44.) 

In Prettin, Saxony, abuses growing out of the celebration of 
weddings called forth the following requirement: "The employees 
of the school shall exercise moderation when they go to weddings, 
so that the youth may not be neglected through the absence of 
both teachers during the entire celebration. Both shall be per- 
mitted to be present at the first day's festivities; but on the next 
day they shall take turn about in looking after the school. " (Pal- 
las I: 3: 19.) The record for 1582 shows that the privilege was 
abused and "the youth in the school were neglected as both 
teachers often continued drinking till the last man had left." 
(Pallas 3: 33.) In 1557, the cantor at Prettin was dismissed on 
account of "indolence, drunkenness, and fighting." (Pallas 3: 
26.) Again in 1580 a cantor was dismissed after a probationary 
period of three years, — indolence and lack of fitness being the 
charge against him. (Pallas 3 : 227.) In the parish of Schwein- 
itz, district of Prettin, a general complaint was made against the 
schoolmaster (1583) to the effect that he was ruining the school, 
no specific delinquencies being enumerated. He replied that it 



' Er warte mehr des Schiessena dea des Schlahens auf der Orgel. 



Character and Training 33 

was the fault of the parents, who kept their children at home to 
work, and anyway it was "impossible to make doctors of them 
in a single hour." The matter was settled by his promising to 
be more diligent. (Pallas 3: 340.) 

In Grunhain, Saxony, when the Visitatores inquired in regard 
to the life and conduct of the schoolmaster, they received the 
reply that he "lies in beerhouses and plays, has been hoarse for 
a whole year as a result, pays attention to nothing but guzzling 
and gaming. "^ The schoolmaster at Geising was more moderate; 
he spent only Sundays and Mondays in exclusive devotion to 
Gambrinus. In Schwarzenberg, the people complained that the 
teachers often neglected the school, lying in the beerhouse, or 
going away without the knowledge of the local board. The 
Saxony Visitation Committee of 1598 found that the school- 
master and cantor at Kemberg often allowed themselves the 
entertainment of drink. Each was sentenced to eight days in 
the career at Wittenberg. If after that they showed no improve- 
ment they were to be dismissed. According to the records the 
cantor was removed. The schoolmaster, profiting by his warn- 
ing and punishment, made sufficient improvement to hold his 
position. (Pallas 1:1: 205.) 

The records of the Visitatores do not shed any more light on 
the good qualities of the teachers in girls' schools than on the bad; 
but in view of the lack of complaints and absence of records of 
removal, it is reasonable to infer that the moral character of 
teachers in these schools was at least moderately satisfactory to 
the members of the visitation committees. 

Taken altogether the records of the Visitatores show more 
praise than blame in regard to teachers. In some cases the 
amount of approval is very meagre, as in the case of Wittenberg 
in 1555. When the Burgermeister, treasurer, and various other 
members of the council were asked by the Visitatores if they had 
any complaint to make against the officers of the church or school, 
they did not commit themselves beyond the negative statement 
that they "knew nothing special to mention." The Visitatores 
however were more appreciative: "As all these persons are well- 
known to the members of the visitation committee, we can give 



1 Akten der Visitation des Meissnischen Kreises, 1577, quoted by E. Gehm- 
lich in Stadt. Lat. Sch. p. 37. 



34 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

them a good testimonial in regard to doctrine, faithful service, 
and honorable conduct." (Pallas I: 1: 35.) At Kemberg in the 
same year, the local council stated that they had no complaint 
to make, as "the teachers and clergy all lead honorable and en- 
tirely blameless lives." (Pallas I: 1: 183.) Commendation is 
likewise given in Bitterfeld and Grafenhainichen (1555). The 
esteem in which the schoolmaster at the latter place was held is 
shown by the fact that although he had recently been elected 
Biirgermeister the council, pastor, and parish were unwilling to 
permit him to give up his work in the school, even though his 
official duties interfered with that work. In order to retain his 
services in the school, another person was secured to relieve him 
of part of his work, especially that of teaching the younger chil- 
dren. The old schoolmaster was to keep the school as long as 
pleased him. (Pallas I: 2: 105.) 

In Bitterfeld (1575) the schoolmaster had "satisfactory com- 
mendation" from the citizens. (Pallas I: 2: 31.) In Grafen- 
hainchen in 1579 the teacher is commended as "a fine learned 
man," in 1581 as "dihgent and quiet." In the record for the 
next year it is stated that he is training for the work of preaching 
and that it is hoped that he may be of service to the church if he 
is called to the ministry. (Pallas I: 2: 123.) In Wittenberg 
(1575) the teachers were found worthy of approval {in guter 
Richtigkeit) . (Pallas 1:1: 45.) In Leipzig (1580) the committee 
of Visitatores made a thorough investigation of the character 
and intellectual qualifications of the teachers in the Thomas 
and Nikolai schools. The report on the former says that the 
men are "pious, industrious, and fitted severally to their respect- 
ive duties, retiring and quiet in life and conduct." Similar com- 
mendation is given the teachers in the Nikolai school: "These 
schoolmen as well as the others are fine learned men, and have 
witness that they attend to their duties faithfully and diligently, 
so that no one has ground for complaint against them." (O. 
Kaemmel, Leipziger Schulwesen, p. 59.) In the parish of 
Schmiedeberg, district of Kemberg (1555), the local council re- 
ported to the visitation committee that "in the five years pre- 
ceding they had found no fault in the schoolmaster," that "fur- 
thermore in a rather large school he had done excellent work." 
(Pallas 1:1: 310.) At Pretzsch in the same district and in the 



Character and Training 35 

same year the report shows that there was no special complaint 
to make against the schoolmaster in regard to doctrine, diligence, 
or hfe. He received the usual "good-witness," but with the 
remark that he did not ring the morning and evening bells as his 
predecessor had done. The report thus seems to show an under- 
current of dissatisfaction; although there is no direct complaint 
against his ability or work as teacher. (Pallas 1:1: 260.) Zahna 
(1598) praises the Ludimoderator in that place as a "fine young 
scholar." (Pallas I: 8: 407.) 

While the Registraturen of the Visitatores generally offer only 
the details in regard to the conditions at the time of some par- 
ticular visitation (cross sections of history), it is possible to get 
a rather different view by taking the life records of a group of 
teachers. What we have discovered in the Registraturen is em- 
phasized by what is known of the careers of various teachers. 
Examples of extraordinary virtue stand at one end of the scale, 
counterbalancing the weakness and baseness at the other extreme; 
while between the two lie the great majority of cases. It is not 
necessary to speak in detail of such men as Bugenhagen, Melanch- 
thon, Corvinus, Joannes Agricola, Eobanus Hessus, Michael Ne- 
ander, men who would have made their force of character felt 
in any century. Nor is it necessary to select a group of especially 
weak men. The general characteristic of a group of men who 
taught in a single school will present a reasonably fair picture of 
the conditions of the century; although it will be necessary to 
evaluate the group upon the basis of the general character of the 
school in which they worked. A large school where salaries 
were good and surroundings congenial naturally attracted and 
kept better men than an obscure school in a small town where 
the teacher had to make some other occupation the handmaiden 
of teaching. It may well be that the records of only the better 
class of schools are available; but that fact merely means that 
the teachers were at best no better than these reports show them 
to have been. Kayser, in showing what later became of the 
schoolmasters of Miinden in the sixteenth century, states that 
two later became pastors; a third became notarius puhlicus; a 
fourth, Ratssekretdr; a fifth, Kaplan, then pastor; and two others, 
pastors. (Kayser, p. 345.) 

The following is known of ten men who were schoolmasters in 



36 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

Dassel (Kalenberg): The first was promoted to a better place; 
a second became a soldier and later a writing teacher {Muster- 
schreiber) ; the third was a runaway monk about whom no further 
information is given; the fourth (who is also mentioned as fourth 
in the list for M linden) married the daughter of Corvinus, be- 
came cantor, notary, Hofsgeiichtsprokurator, and finally coun- 
cillor and Bilrgermeister in Miinden; the fifth won a certain de- 
gree of renown by teaching catechism in the school and having 
Salve Rex Christe sung instead of Salve Regina; the sixth was dis- 
missed as a necromancer and conjurer (Teufelheschwdrer) ; the 
seventh became a canon and died in that office ; the eighth traveled 
considerably, twice as far as Livonia, and was finally killed in 
Duderstadt (no particulars given) ; of the ninth nothing is known 
except his name; the tenth became cantor and then pastor. 
(Kayser, p. 345.) 

Of fifty-seven teachers in the Annaberg (Saxony) Latin School, 
of whose later life information is available, only seven remained 
permanently in school work; thirty entered the ministry of the 
church; seven went into higher or lower civil offices; two changed 
from teaching to the practice of medicine; seven were dismissed 
or resigned and took up other occupations; one became court 
musician and finally Kapelhneister in Dresden; two became sex- 
tons; and one became a monk, later rising to the rank of abbot in 
a Bohemian monastery. (Bartusch, p. 7L) From this it is 
evident that, so far as the records show, the greater part of the 
teachers of the Annaberg school were men of superior character. 
While almost three-fourths of them used teaching as a means of 
rising to something better, that very fact is some evidence of 
ability and excellence of character. The seven who remained 
permanently in teaching were surely men of more than ordinary 
perseverance — or misfortune. The Annaberg school being one 
of the best, it is not to be inferred that conditions universally 
were as good as those shown by the records of the fifty-seven 
whose careers can be followed. Even in Annaberg itself the 
general average of character was probably below that of the 
group mentioned. At any rate there seems to be no reason for 
believing that those who dropped from sight were better than 
those whose careers can be followed. 

Upon the basis of these citations from the records of the com- 



Character and Training 37 

mittees, part of whose special duty it was to investigate the 
life and character of the schoolmaster, it appears that, while 
great evils existed, there were a great many hard-working, thor- 
oughly good men who were toiling quietly for the welfare of the 
schools. The conditions under which they worked were un- 
settled; they themselves were young, most of them probably 
being under thirty-five years of age; the people among whom 
they worked were not always ideal in character; schoolmasters 
were held by no tradition of a distinct teaching profession. If 
they are compared with the people among whom they lived and 
worked, they show a relatively high character. 

In the literature of the sixteenth century there are indications 
that the teacher was not held in very high esteem by his con- 
temporaries. In the Ahnansor of Hajmeccius, parents are rep- 
resented as having the following opinion of the teachers of their 
children : 

The idle rascals in the school 

Do naught; 
Of good days they are full. 
Our children trusted to their care 
Remain forever where they are.i 

In Act IV, Scene 6, one of the characters, the mother of two of 
the bad boys in the play, calls teachers "child-murderers" {die 
Kindermorder in der Schule). 

"Ein gesprech des Herrn mit S. Petro von der ietzigen welt lauf 
und irem verkerteni hosem wesen,'' printed in Schade's Satiren und 
Pasquille aus der Reformationzeit, gives schoolmasters a very bad 
reputation, accusing them of laziness, greed, vanity, ignorance, 
immorality, and lack of interest in their work.^ 

Something of the character of assistant teachers may be seen 
from Adam Siber's characterization of them in his lines on the 
woes of the schoolmaster. His long experience as rector gives 



iDie Miissigkgenger in der schul 
Thun nichts 
Sind guter tage full. 
Sie lassen unser Kinderlein 
Stets bleiben wer und wie sie sein. 

Almansor, Act IV, Scene 4. 
« Vol. I, p. 160, 11. 196-233. 



38 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

him authority in the matter of judging the work of his associates; 
but the following lines are to be discounted somewhat because 
of the general bitterness with which he wrote. He sums up his 
long experience as follows: 

"But what do your associates accomplish, who are appointed 
to help you? Often they would do better on the noisy thresh- 
ing-floor helping the farmer beat out his grain! Although they 
often boast (if from the threshold of the temple they have seen 
the Muse), and act as if they could fly, promising the most splen- 
did things, there never appears the Rhodes where they really 
perform the promised leap. Only seldom do they perform their 
duty; for, intent upon the declining sun, they are through on the 
minute; but while the pupils are making a noise like the roaring 
sea, they are zealously disputing about the beard of the emperor. 
If you do not wish to have your pupils taught useless stuff and 
try to root it out in order to avoid such injury, you must as rec- 
tor roll stones with Sisyphus." 

In a chapter on "Teachers" in his work on the School System 
of the German Reformation, Mertz states that the Reformers 
had to give a great deal of attention to the creation of an efficient 
teaching body. It was necessary in the first place to make pro- 
visions for the continuation and permanencj'^ of the teaching 
force by preparing teachers of thorough culture. He cites the 
following statement from the electoral Saxon Ordnung of 1528: 
"There are some who think that it is enough for a preacher to be 
able to read German. Such however is a pernicious error. For 
whoever is to teach others must have a great deal of training and 
fitness; to gain which he must have studied from his youth up." 
He finds it self-evident that at the beginning of the Reformation 
the culture of teachers must have been far below the ideal which 
the Reformers held; since the means of thorough preparation 
were lacking as were also experience and practice. On this ac- 
count it was necessary for a long time to be content with teachers 
who lacked the necessary preparation, (p. 405.) 

As shown in the chapter on the "Appointment of Teachers," the 
requirements are not sufficiently high to demand much prepara- 
tion except in a few rare cases. This is especially true in the 
lower schools. In these the actual preparatory training of the 
teacher generally consisted in having attended a German school 



Character and Training 39 

or a Latin school. Only in rarest cases had the teacher in such a 
school attended a university. Even slighter preparation than 
this is found in the teachers who had charge of the schools for 
girls. Intellectual preparation was hardly an absolute necessity 
there. Just as it has been customary in some states of the Union 
to permit persons who have completed the work of the elementary 
or high school to teach in the lower schools, the Protestant states 
in Germany in the sixteenth century accepted as teachers in the 
deutschen Schulen for boys and girls persons who had no more 
advanced training than what was given in these very institutions 
or in the Latin schools. 

It is in the Latin schools that we find evidences oi more or 
less advanced intellectual training on the part of the teachers. 
While this preparation is narrowly humanistic and in a large 
measure really intended as a step toward the work of the faculty 
of theology, law, or medicine, it is adapted in subject matter at 
least to the needs of the schools supplied. The work in the 
university at this time began with a course in the faculty of 
philosophy (or arts). After about two years the student might 
attain the first academic degree, that of Baccalaureus. In another 
year or two he might hope to receive the grade of Magister. Ac- 
cording to Paulsen about a fourth of those who matriculated 
were able to gain the first degree; and of these bachelors only a 
fourth were able to complete the requirements for the degree of 
master. The teachers in the secondary schools were composed 
largely of these persons who had not completed the work in the 
faculty of arts; although there was here and there a teacher who 
had actually been admitted to the work of one of the higher 
faculties.^ The work in the department of arts, as described 
by Paulsen, was essentially as follows. For the first year or two 
of his university career the student devoted himself principally 
to logic with a certain amount of physics in addition. Attend- 
ance upon prescribed courses and participation in a required 
number of disputations served to give the amount of knowledge 
required by the regulations. The rest of the course in the de- 
partment of arts (philosophy) consisted of physics, mathematics, 



^See Bartusch, Annaberg Latin School, p. 68 and G. Muller, Saxony, 1580, 
p. XXVI. 



40 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

astronomy, metaphysics, psychology, ethics, and politics. 
Through the influence of humanism this material was so modified 
as to include courses in the Greek language and literature, in 
classical Latin, and in the Roman authors, especially the poets. 
Even the old translations of Aristotelian texts were supplanted 
by new translations on principles advocated by the Humanists.^ 

The methods to which the student became accustomed were 
of the mediaeval type, — lectures and disputations. In the early 
years of the humanistic influence there was undoubtedly much 
more vitality in the work than there iiad been during the later 
scholastic regime or during the later humanistic influence. The 
reading i^nd explanation of the classics exerted a powerful charm 
upon the university student and gave him a tendency to follow 
similar methods when he himself later became a teacher in the 
Latin school. That this kind of preparation in method was not 
as satisfactory as that in subject matter is shown by various pas- 
sages in the Ordnungen forbidding the schoolmaster to waste 
time in comment upon the poets when he ought to be giving 
drill in the fundamentals of grammar.^ 

There being no special schools for the training of teachers, the 
civil and ecclesiastical authorities seem to have been content to 
make use of such institutions as already existed under their 
control. Such a university as Wittenberg became the center of 
an influence hardly less in education than in religion. The ex- 
tent to which teachers availed themselves of the opportunity 
to gain the benefit of the instruction of such a man as Melanch- 
thon (who was a Wittenberg professor from 1518 until 1560) is 
shown by the fact that there was hardly a Latin school in all 
Protestant Germany which did not have one or more of his stu- 
dents among its teachers. It is said that all the great rectors of 
secondary schools during the sixteenth century came from among 
his pupils.^ 

Toward the close of the century we find certain evidences of 
the beginning of seminaries for teachers, — institutions for their 
maintenance although not for instruction except in connection 
with schools already existing. Such a case is found in the Ord- 



1 Paulsen, German Universities, 29, 30, 41. 

2 See, for example, Sehling III: 125, Vormbaum I: 227. 

' Paulsen, German Universities, p. 43. 



Character and Training 41 

nung for Strassburg in 1598. One section of this is headed, "The 
Seminary of the Church, that is. What measures are to be taken 
for the training of such persons as shall in future be of service 
to church and school." A part of this section provides that the 
cloister of S. Wilhelm is to be a Collegium (that is, a kind of 
residence hall) for boys of talent and good character who are to 
bind themselves to study theology in the Strassburg Academy, to 
the teaching of the catechism in the institution, and to the serv- 
ice of the church in that city. In the text itself there is no dis- 
tinction between the ministry of the church and the work of 
teaching; but the heading of the section shows that the latter is 
regarded as being bound with the former. (Vormbaum I: 402.) 
Indeed Mertz holds that wherever we find special institutions 
for the training of clergymen, we can speak of institutions for 
the training of teachers, the future work of the persons in at- 
tendance always being taken into consideration. (Mertz, p. 411.) 
He adds, ''To be sure, in the main it is a matter of external main- 
tenance of future teachers with the idea of facilitating their 
study." The Ordnung of Wiirttemberg (1559) makes elaborate 
provision for the choosing, maintenance, studies, and govern- 
ment of young men who receive aid to enable them to attend the 
University of Tubingen. The recipient of such aid had to 
pledge himself to the study of theology in the university and 
afterwards to take up the work of pastor, chaplain, deacon, or 
schoolmaster in the duchy of Wiirttemberg unless granted per- 
mission by the duke to enter the service of someone else. From 
this it seems clear that the preparation of a teacher was regarded 
as being practically the same as that required of a clergyman. 
From other sources it appears that the work of teaching was but 
a stage in the complete preparation for the ministry. The large 
number of teachers who took up the pastoral duties (for example, 
thirty out of fifty-seven in the Annaberg Latin School) shows 
still more plainly the relation between the two professions, or 
rather between the two parts of the one, the work of the ministry. 
After a teacher was once in the work there was little oppor- 
tunity for him to continue his preparation or to find means 
of improving himself professionally except in the mere matter 
of experience. In spite of this general condition we find 
occasional references to what may be considered "continuation" 



42 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

(Forthildung) work. With the idea of giving teachers the op- 
portunity to improve themselves as well as to correct the exer- 
cises of pupils, the Ordnung of Brieg (1581) provides for reason- 
able vacations. (Vormbaum I: 316.) Holidays are granted, 
not for the purpose of mere rest, but in order to promote real re- 
creation. Such occasions give the teacher an opportunity to 
read and to make advancement in disputation and declamation, 
A similar consideration of teachers is found in the Pomeranian 
Kirchenordnung of 1535, in which it is provided that, in order 
that no teacher may be overburdened with work, each instructor 
in the Pcedagogium shall have a maximum of two classes a day. 
(Richter I: 253.) In addition to such provisions as the fore- 
going, there are others which provide for more or less regular 
teachers' meetings. The Magdeburg school regulations of 1553 
{Constitutiones Scholce Magdeburgensis) require that the teach- 
ers shall hold meetings at stated times, for the purpose of settling 
controversies, of learning what things are desired, and of con- 
sulting informally in regard to other matters. (Vormbaum I: 
424.) Similarly in the Altdorf regulations of 1575, Chapter I, 
we find: "We hereby give the rector full power to assemble the 
teachers whenever he may find it necessary. In such meeting 
may be discussed and determined matters relating to the preser- 
vation of good discipline, or to the giving of useful and necessary 
instruction in our gymnasium, or to similar school affairs." 
(Vormbaum 1 : 610.) A similar statement occurs in the Stralsund 
Ordnung of 1591, XI, 15. (Vormbaum I: 510.) The Bruns- 
wick Ordnung of 1596 requires that teachers' conferences to con- 
sider school affairs shall be held daily. (Mon. Ger. Paed. I: 130.) 
In a rather remote way, the fact that the schoolmaster was per- 
mitted or required to attend the sessions of the synod may be 
regarded in this same line of professional improvement. School 
matters were often discussed here; and the teacher had an oppor- 
tunity to have impressed upon him the external relations of the 
work of the school. Strassburg in 1534 provides that at the 
regular meetings of the clergy for the discussion of church affairs 
the schoolmasters may be called into consultation. (Richter 
I: 235.) By the Kirchenordnung of the Palatinate (1564), per- 
mission is given teachers to attend the annual synod and report 
in writing various matters which they think need remedying 



Character and Training 43 

and state also what remedies they propose. (Richter II: 280.) 
In the Prussian Bischofswahl of 1568 mention is made of school- 
masters among those who attend the annual synod. Their 
privileges and duties are not specified. 

In the larger towns and better schools the teacher had the 
possibility of using libraries for his intellectual improvement. 
The books in these institutions were naturally largely religious 
in content; but there were also the works of some of the Latin 
and Greek poets and orators, with some materials on the liberal 
arts. Sometimes also there were books on law and medicine. 
Special provision for libraries is made in the following Ordnungen: 
Hamburg, 1529; Soest, 1532; Bremen, 1534; Pomerania, 1535 
and 1563; Brunswick- Wolfenbiittel, 1543; and Augsburg, 1576. 
The Pomeranian Ordnung of 1535 states definitely that the li- 
brary is for pastors, schoolmasters, and assistant teachers. (Rich- 
ter I: 254.) The Brunswick- Wolfenbiittel Kirchenordnung of 
1543 requires that libraries shall be established in which minis- 
ters, schoolteachers, and others may conveniently study. (Rich- 
ter II: 61.) 



CHAPTER IV 
APPOINTMENT AND TENURE 

As the school was considered a vital part of the work of the 
church, the appointment of teachers was very largely in the 
hands of the clergy and church boards. Although the local 
council played a large part in selecting teachers, the differentia- 
tion between the religious and secular functions of that body 
had not proceeded far enough to make its part distinctively 
secular; although it may perhaps be said that such participation 
was a step toward secular control. The purpose of education 
as then conceived, the intimate connection between church and 
school, the character of local government, the fact that educa- 
tion had always been almost entirely in the hands of the church 
made it very natural that the clergy should have the predominat- 
ing, if not the sole voice in the selection of teachers. The fol- 
lowing statements from the Ordnungen will serve to indicate 
the manner of appointment. 

The Leisnig Kastenordnung of 1523 provides that the school- 
master shall be chosen by the ten representatives of the parish 
with the advice of the pastor. (Mertz 457.) In Wittenberg 
(1528), the schoolmaster is to be chosen in the same manner as 
the deacons: "The pastor shall seek out pious, learned, and suit- 
able men and make appointments with the aid of the three Bilrg- 
ermeister.^' Assistants are to be chosen by the schoolmaster, 
"as he is responsible." The teacher of the girls' school is to be 
appointed by the three Biirgermeister with the knowledge and 
consent of the pastor. The sexton (who in this case probably 
had no teaching work with the possible exception of assisting 
the pastor in giving instruction in the catechism) is to be ap- 
pointed by the council (Rat). (Pallas I: 1: 25.) Zahna and 
Kemberg (1528) place the appointment of schoolmasters in the 
hands of the pastor and the council; but in the latter place the 
pastor and the schoolmaster appoint the cantor. (Pallas I: 1: 



Appointment and Tenure 45 

367, 179.) In Grimma (1529) the teacher of the girls' school is 
to be chosen by the council with the knowledge and advice of 
the pastor, while the Baccalarien are to be appointed by the 
pastor and the schoolmaster. (Grossman, 97.) In Bitterfeld 
(1531) the appointive power is in the hands of pastor and coun- 
cil. (Pallas I: 2: 7.) Baden-Durlach (1536) has no mention of 
pastor or district superintendent; "The magistrate, court, and 
council" (Schultheis, Gericht, und Radt) are charged with the 
selection of the schoolmaster. (Vormbaum I: 31.) In the parish 
of Havelberg in Brandenburg (1545), "The council shall ap- 
point a schoolmaster with the advice and consent of the pastor 
and shall neither appoint nor keep in office any person not ac- 
ceptable to the pastor." (Sehling III : 227.) The Saxony General- 
artikel of 1557 contain a similar provision. The Wittgenstein 
Kirchenordnung of 1555 has the following: "We order that they 
who according to ancient custom have chosen the schoolmasters 
shall do so with the advice of our superintendent." (Richter 
II: 162.) Pomerania (1563) makes a distinction between the 
larger towns and the smaller. In the former, the schoolmaster 
is to be appointed by the administrative authorities with the 
advice and consent of the pastor and deacons. He is then to be 
presented to the superintendent for examination. If he is found 
unfit, the fact is reported to the council in order that they may 
get another person who shall be capable and suitable. Special 
charge is given that this matter shall be treated with fidelity, 
not with favor or prejudice. In case the superintendent and 
the council cannot agree, the matter shall be left to the Consis- 
tory. In the smaller towTis, the "patrons" with the council, 
pastor and church representatives choose the schoolmaster and 
have him examined by the superintendent or his representative 
as in the larger towns. In case of disagreement, the superin- 
tendent makes the final decision. (Vormbaum I: 169, 170.) 
The Kirchenratsordnung of the Palatinate (1564) without making 
special provision for the selection of teachers places the control 
of schools entirely in the hands of the council (Rat) of the church : 
"since it is impossible without schools to have suitable and 
learned church officials, or even to preserve the true Christian 
religion uncorrupted, our church council shall exercise the most 
eminent (fornehmste) care not only to maintain the schools 



46 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

which have already been established, but also to improve them 
from day to day and to establish others." (Richter II: 281.) 
The Prussian Bischolfwahl (1568) makes the following provision: 
**Not without the consent of the local pastor is any oflEicer of 
school or church to be appointed or dismissed." (Richter II: 
303.) The Brandenburg Visitations- und Konsistorialordnung 
(1573) requires that "the schoolmaster and his associates shall 
not be appointed through favor, but on account of ability and 
virtuous conduct." Appointment is to be made by "the au- 
thorities" {die Obrigkeiten) with the advice and unanimous con- 
sent of the pastors and councillors. (Richter 11:374.) In Alt- 
stadt Salzwedel (1579), provision is made that no one shall be 
"forced in" as rector through favoritism. Here, as usual, the 
council with the advice and consent of the pastor has the power 
of appointment. The assistant teachers are to be chosen by the 
council with the advice of the rector. (Sehling III : 278.) The 
following statement is made in the Nordhauser Schulordnung of 
1583: "The council shall refer to the inspectors without definite 
promise those who apply to them for work in the schools and shall 
not force candidates upon the inspectors except in case the latter 
wish to reject capable persons to the detriment of the school." 
(Vormbaum I: 365.) "Without the knowledge, consent and 
presence of the inspectors, no officer of the school shall be inducted 
into office." (Ibid.) Candidates for positions are required to 
apply first to the council and then to the inspectors, the appli- 
cation to be in Latin. (Vormbaum I: 373.) 

In the appointment of assistant teachers the rector or school- 
master was sometimes given the privilege of participation. It 
is hardly to be inferred however that he exercised the same power 
as the head of a modern school into whose hands the appoint- 
ment of teachers is given as one of the details where his respon- 
sibility demands large powers. While men like Adam Siber 
seem to have enjoyed considerable freedom, the authority of the 
rector was generally far less than his responsibility. That the 
schoolmaster sometimes failed to use his power of appointment 
satisfactorily is shown by a passage in the records of Breslau 
(1528) in which it is stated that all the officers of the school are 
to be appointed by the council, "since the schoolmaster had 
formerly appointed and dismissed according to his own caprice. " 
(Konrad 46.) 



Appointment and Tenure 47 

The records give little information in regard to the closeness 
with which the provisions of the various regulations were followed. 
There is no reason however for supposing that there was much 
variation from the simple method of procedure which was gen- 
erally prescribed. The records of Bitterfeld (1572) show that a 
schoolmaster was appointed by the council, confirmed by the 
consistory, and invested by the council and the superintendent. 
(Pallas I: 2: 31.) It is probably true that in some cases favorit- 
ism forced unqualified persons upon the schools through the in- 
fluence of inspectors, superintendents, or local councils. This 
seems a reasonable inference from such express statements in 
regard to the matter as are quoted from Brandenburg (1573) 
and Altstadt Salzwedel (1579). 

Examination. In all cases where a teacher was appointed, it 
was necessary for him to undergo some kind of examination in 
order that the authorities might be sure of his qualifications, in- 
tellectual, moral, and more especially religious. While this ex- 
amination was ordinarily in the hands of the superintendent 
(that is, the clergyman who was the head of the district), various 
persons were charged with this duty. But whoever the examiners 
were, the influence of the church was predominant, whether 
council, inspector, or special committee performed the work. 
The form of examination was apparently quite simple, as simple 
as the examiners cared to make it. Nothing further was neces- 
sary than that the examiner satisfy himself of the candidate's 
qualifications for the work. There were no restrictions in re- 
gard to percentages or eligible lists. It was in rare cases that 
the subject-matter of the examination was specified beyond 
what is implied in the words "piety and learning." The time 
of the examination was generally after the appointment had 
been assured; but if the candidate failed to show satisfactory 
qualifications the appointment did not stand. The system was 
very much like that in force in Massachusetts in the early nine- 
teenth century, where the district committee appointed a teacher 
to fill the office, subject to examination and certification by the 
town board. In Minden (1530) the only requirement in regard 
to examination is that the "schoolmaster shall be heard and 
examined by the superintendent." (Richter I: 139.) Similar 
statements are found in the Wittgenstein Kirchenordnung of 



48 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

1555 (Richter 11: 162), the Jever Kirchenordnung of 1562 (Rich- 
ter II: 227), and the Pomeranian Kirchenordnung of 1563 (Vorm- 
baum I: 167). The Saxon Generalartikel of 1557 provide that 
"all church and school employees shall first be examined by the 
superintendents or consistory and confirmed after being found 
qualified." (Richter II: 186.) The Bitterfeld (1531) require- 
ment is that the teacher be examined at Wittenberg: but the 
examiner or examining board is not mentioned. (Pallas 1:2: 7.) 
In Mollen (1531) "our schoolmasters shall first be examined at 
Ltibeck by the superintendent, the pastors, and the three su- 
perior schoolmasters." (Richter 1:152.) The Kirchenordnung 
of Ulm (1531) places the work of examination in the hands of 
three school patrons, one from the council, one from the clergy, 
and one from "those who read in the Holy Scriptures and the 
languages." No one may teach children (whether it be boys or 
girls, in German or in Latin) unless he is found qualified in faith, 
life, and ability by the council. (Mertz, 473.) How the council 
is to find the qualifications of the candidate is not clear; the work 
of examination is left specifically to the three school patrons 
mentioned above. In Mecklenburg (1552) a special board of 
examiners was prescribed: "Since a good masterbuilder is neces- 
sary to this work, it is commanded that when a schoolmaster is to 
be appointed in this duchy, he shall first be examined at Rostock 
by persons appointed for the purpose and shall bring a certificate 
of the fact that he is qualified for the work. " (Vormbaum I: 65) 
The elaborate Wtirttemberg Ordnung of 1559 outlines the 
method of examination as follows: "Whereas it is of high necessity 
that the schools for our children be conducted by learned and 
godfearing men qualified for the work and indefatigable, therefore, 
whenever our officers or magistrates shall, according to their 
custom, name and present a schoolmaster or assistant before the 
church authorities, or whenever the church authorities shall at 
the request of the officers and magistrates call one, or whenever 
any person offers himself as a teacher, he shall, before he is ad- 
mitted to examination, present authentic and trustworthy cer- 
tificates of his descent, life, and conduct, either from the magis- 
trate under whose jurisdiction he was born and has lived, or 
from his teachers and the authorities under whom he has lived, 
served, and taught. When this has been regularly done, he 



Appointment and Tenure 49 

shall conduct a lesson or two before one or two of the theologians 
in our school at Stuttgart and both Pcedogogarchs^ of the same 
school. If then he is found qualified in grammar, he shall be 
examined in regard to his piety upon the catechism of our Kir- 
chenordnung, this to be done diligently and thoroughly. If he 
is found to be of pure religion according to the Augsburg con- 
fession and suited to the work, he shall in our name be 
appointed." (Vormbaum I: 94.) 

Quite similar is the requirement for the government of the 
gymnasium in Nordhausen (1583): "The selection of teachers is 
the prerogative of the college of inspectors, not of one or two of 
the members. The person selected shall be referred to the eldest 
among the councillors with the request that permission to install 
him in office be given. A written testimonial of his life, and in- 
tellectual preparation shall be required of the person appointed. 
If this is satisfactory the candidate shall be presented to the rec- 
tor. Then he shall present a trial lesson in one of the higher 
classes before the rector and the inspectors. He shall also be re- 
quired to sing a selection in order to show that he understands 
music. Further he shall be questioned in regard to religion and 
shall be required to sign our declaration. After this he shall be 
given the position and shall have a written ' vocation ' with the seal 
of the consistory." (Vormbaum I: 368, 369.) According to the 
Prussian Konsistorialordnurig of 1584, the examination of teachers 
is in the hands of the consistory. (Richter II: 463.) The very 
important ordinance of the Electorate of Saxony of 1580 is so 
nearly like that of Wiirttemberg that it is not necessary to give 
it here. Especial mention is made of grammar, Luther's 
Catechism, and the Augsburg Confession. (Vormbaum I: 251.) 

The examination of the prospective teacher in the German 
school consisted principally in an inquiry concerning his re- 
ligious belief and his ability to teach reading, writing and arith- 
metic. (Vormbaum I: 296.) In Lower Saxony (1585), "before 
school teachers are accepted, they shall be examined in doctrine 
in order that it may be known what their faith is, so that they 
may not be contaminated with false opinion and error and mis- 



1 The two principal teachers in the Pcedagogium (the university prepara- 
tory school). 



50 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

lead the youth and others. After this they shall give a trial 
lesson in order that it may be known if they are really capable 
of instructing the youth clearly and correctly. When this has 
been regularly done, they shall promise with heart and hand to 
be obedient in every way to this Kirchenordnung and to the 
pastor, to be diligent in schoolwork, and to lead irreproachable 
Christian lives." (Vormbaum I: 397.) 

In many places where no formal examination is required, cer- 
tain specified requirements or qualifications serve in a loose way 
to gain the same end. Even where nothing is specified beyond 
the subject of instruction, a certain moderate amount of mas- 
tery of those branches is tacitly implied, the range of variation 
being probably much greater than when a definite examination 
is required. By following the requirements as stated in the 
Ordnungen we are able to obtain a clear view of the few essen- 
tials which were regarded as necessary to appointment, — in- 
tellectual, moral, and reUgious. 

Qualifications. The demands made of teachers in the schools 
for girls are very modest, especially in regard to learning. Abil- 
ity to read and write is generally a prerequisite; but such at- 
tainments are hardly as important as the ability to give good 
moral and religious training. In some cases no intellectual re- 
quirements whatever are mentioned, except in so far as they 
may be considered as implied in the duties prescribed. The 
Kastenordnung of Leisnig (1523) calls for "a respectable, mature, 
and blameless woman" who is able to give girls under the age of 
twelve orthodox Christian training. (Richter I: 13.) In Ham- 
burg (1529) no qualification is mentioned beyond the statement 
that the teacher is to be a woman; but it is to be inferred from 
her duties that she can teach selections from the Holy Script- 
ures, the catechism and sacred songs. (Vormbaum I: 26.) This, 
of course, does not necessarily imply that she could read and 
write. Brunswick (1528) and Gottingen (1531) are practically 
alike: "The honorable council shall secure schoolmistresses who 
have an understanding of the Gospel and are of good reputa- 
tion." (Vormbaum I: 17 and Mertz, 471.) The fact that read- 
ing is to be taught in connection with religion shows a little 
higher requirement than that found where only catechism is 
prescribed; although it is hardly justifiable to assume that where 



Appointment and Tenure 51 

reading is not definitely required, the teacher cannot read and 
does not teach reading. Hesse (1526) calls merely for "learned, 
mature and pious women who shall impart the principal matters 
of faith and teach reading, so that the girls may become good 
housewives." (Mertz, 461.) The fundamental idea in instruc- 
tion for girls is set forth in the Ordnung for Hall in 1526 as fol- 
lows: "It would be well to appoint a suitable woman as school- 
mistress to instruct the girls in matters of discipline (Zucht), 
writing, and reading for two hours a day; as the Apostle Paul 
teaches in the first chapter of the epistle to Titus that the old 
women shall be teachers of good things, that they may teach the 
young women to be sober, etc. The Scriptures do not belong to 
men alone, but to women also, who expect heaven and eternal 
life just as do men." (Richter I: 49.) In the Saxon Visitations- 
Artikel of 1533 no statement of the sex or intellectual qualifi- 
cations of the teacher is given; but it is to be inferred that the 
person chosen has the ability to teach psalms, prayers, the brief 
catechism, reading, writing, and singing. (Sehling I: 193, 194.) 
The Wittenberg Ordnung of 1533 makes no statement of qual- 
ifications whatever, the matter being apparently left entirely 
to the discretion of the employing superintendent or board. 
(Vormbaum I: 27.) Pomerania (1535) is a like case. (Richter 
I: 256.) The rather extraordinary quality of being able to "deal 
sensibly with the girls in her care" is demanded of the teacher 
in Brunswick- Wolf enbiittei (1543). "For this school shall be 
secured a respectable matron who can teach well and can manage 
the girls in a good and discreet manner {mil den Junckfrouwen 
wol vnd vornunfftich kan vmmgehen), who loves God's Word 
and likes to read the Bible and other good books." (Vormbaum 
I: 5%.) The most detailed statement of qualifications is that 
found in the Regulations of Wiirttemberg (1559). The teacher 
is to be of the "pure, true. Christian faith according to the Augs- 
burg Confession," not sectarian, superstitious, nor of any errone- 
ous religious belief; he must understand the catechism and be 
able to teach it sensibly and simply; he must have intelligence 
enough to teach children letters, syllables, reading, and compu- 
tation, together with legible penmanship if that can be done 
profitably. (Vormbaum I: 162, 163.) Nothing additional is 
found in the Ordnung of Pomerania (1563), Lippe (1571), Bran- 



52 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

denburg (1573), Lower Saxony (1585), or Strassburg (1598). 
Liineburg (1564) is unique in adding "sewing and the like" to 
the regular requirements of reading and writing. (Vormbaum I: 
179.) 

The work in the German schools for boys being very much 
like that in the corresponding schools for girls (where it was not 
precisely the same), the requirements for appointment were 
practically the same: ability to teach reading, writing, and re- 
ligion, and occasionally computation. In the so-called "writing 
schools" more stress was naturally laid upon the art of penman- 
ship than in other schools, e.g., Wiirttemberg (1559). The whole 
matter is summed up forcibly in the Kirchenordnung for Hanover 
(1536): "We have learned that heretofore the German school- 
masters have sometimes taught the children things that are 
harmful and silly {Begeinisch altfetlisch) . Consequently we or- 
der that no one be permitted to hold a German school unless he 
has been found suitable by the superintendents and accepted by 
us. He must not only be skillful in German reading and writing 
but also know the catechism so that he can instruct the dear 
children in Christian doctrine and discipline. Whoever, be it 
man or woman, shall contaminate our children with false doc- 
trine shall be punished like other blasphemers; for we recognize 
the fact that we are the fathers of old and young alike. Hence 
we will not permit any schoolmaster or father or mother, who- 
ever it be, to defile the children with false doctrine and lead them 
away from Christ our Lord and God." (Vormbaum I: 32.) 
That the German teacher was not always required to give in- 
struction in catechism is shown in the case of Pomerania (1563) 
where the teacher was merely required to "hold the children to 
the catechism and the sermons." (Vormbaum I: 177.) The 
looseness of the requirements is shown by such passages as that 
in the Kirchenordnung of Lippe (1571), in which it is stated that 
the German schools are to be held by "pious sextons, skilled in 
reading and writing," or where such men were not to be ob- 
tained, by "other intelligent and peaceable persons." (Vorm- 
baum I: 293.) While there may have been a growing demand 
for better German schools the Ordnungen do not reflect this in 
their statements of the requirements of teachers. Through- 
out the century the German school was generally in the hands 



Appointment and Tenure 53 

of the sexton, an officer whose duties were regarded as essentially 
religious rather than intellectual, even though he might be re- 
quired to give elementary instruction. Consequently the pre- 
scribed qualifications have little to say of anything other than 
the slightest literary training in addition to satisfactory religious 
belief. 

Latin Schools. While it was hardly to be expected that any 
special intellectual qualifications should be demanded of the 
teachers in the elementary schools, as the work attempted was 
of the very simplest and the stress was placed more upon the 
religious than upon the intellectual, the early Ordnungen for 
Latin schools place hardly as much emphasis upon literary prep- 
aration as might be expected when one considers only the fact 
that these schools gave such secondary training as would fit for 
the university. Requirements are at first very vague; and the 
qualifications might easily be mistaken for those in the better 
class of lower schools. The Kastenordnung of Leisnig (1523) 
calls merely for a pious, unblameable, and learned man. (Rich- 
ter I: 13.) The town of Hall (1526) requires "a learned school- 
master, skilled in the languages." Hesse, in 1526, is even less 
exacting in the matter of intellectual attainments: "Moreover 
the churches shall see that competent men are chosen for this 
work (teaching) , such as are able effectively to inspire boys to good 
morals and manners (mores) and good education." (Vormbaum 
I: 4.) The Brunswick Ordnung of 1528 emphasises the import- 
ance of having a well trained teacher, but does not specify any 
matters in detail. The schools must have "learned masters 
and associates"; for a "learned master with God's help can teach 
pupils more in three years than another in twenty years." 
(Vormbaum I: 11.) It is definitely stated that one of the schools 
(that of St. Martin) shall have a Master of Arts as its head. He 
must be "favorable to the gospel of Christ and learned therein." 
The School Plan of the electorate of Saxony (1528) places even 
more stress upon the necessity of having teachers who are thor- 
oughly prepared for the work; but even here there is little in the 
way of definite statement of just what is demanded. Witten- 
berg (1553), Hanover (1536), Hesse (1537), Schleswig-Holstein 
(1542), and Brunswick (1543), are all very much alike in general 
demand for "capable, learned, God-fearing men." In all these 



54 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

cases it is naturally to be inferred that "capable" means being 
able to teach the rudiments of Latin grammar, and a greater 
or less amount of literature, — Donatus, Cato, Aesop, Ovid, 
Terence, Cicero, and Virgil often being mentioned. While the 
Wittgenstein Ordnung of 1555 makes no contribution to increased 
definiteness of requirements, its statement of the basis of these 
demands for efficient teachers is worthy of mention: "We 
know that spiritual and secular government has its beginning 
in the schools; and where the schoolmasters are learned and 
diligent, the pupils are the more capable." (Richter II: 162.) 
Even as late as 1556 the Waldeck Ordnung gives merely a general 
statement of qualifications. "Schoolmasters and Ludimagistri 
shall be grounded in the catholic, apostolic Christian doctrine, — 
furnished with good and honorable conduct and morals and with 
good arts and languages (guten kunsten und sprachen)." (Rich- 
ter II: 175.) The regulations of the Palatinate (1556) specify 
the usual matters in regard to life and conduct, but make special 
demand that the schoolmaster shall be a "good grammaticus." 
(Vormbaum I: 67.) The Wiirttemberg Ordnung of 1559 is very 
much more detailed than the general average. The searching 
method of examination has already been described. Passing 
this test meant that the candidate was satisfactorily qualified 
both in the subject matter of instruction, and in the art of teach- 
ing, that he gave evidence of satisfactory moral character, and 
that his religious views were sufficiently orthodox. The literary 
equipment of the teachers in the upper classes at least must have 
included some knowledge of Greek as well as such Latin as was 
regularly taught in a school of five classes (or of six classes after 
1582). Rhetoric and dialectic were also required. The Lippe 
Ordnung of 1571 prescribes the exercise of great ca^-e in regard to 
the qualification of teachers, especially warning against unfitness 
in morals or rehgion. "In order that the youth may be trained 
and supervised for the welfare of the church and the community 
of Christ, not by godless, ill-fitted, and pernicious schoolmasters 
but by those who are learned, prepared for their duties, and 
indefatigable, and in order that everyone may know what manner 
of men are to be chosen as teachers in the principality, the fol- 
lowing Ordnung is to be followed. " (Vormbaum I: 223.) Teach- 
ers are to be strictly examined to see "if they are infected with 



Appointment and Tenure 55 

such heresies or schisms as are now common, by which the frail, 
impressionable and delicate minds of the youth may be corrupted 
and poisoned (since they are susceptible to good or evil) to the 
future detriment of the Christian church and well-regulated 
schools. For what is first put in a vessel gives it a permanent 
scent or taste." (Vormbaum I: 223.) 

Some reflection upon the character of persons who had 
been chosen as teachers is perhaps given in the Bra nden- 
burg Konsistorialordnung of 1573, in which the following 
appears: "To such important offices (pastor, chaplain, or 
schoolmaster) there shall be appointed no tailor, cobbler, or 
other corrupt handicraftsman or idler (Ledickgenger) , who has 
not studied grammar and still less knows how to read correctly." 
These ofiices are to be filled by men from the University 
of Frankfort on the Oder or from other reputable universities. 
(Richter II: 360, 361.) In the same ordinance is the further 
demand that the schoolmasters pay a great deal of attention to 
essential matters and give a large amount of drill instead of 
skimming over the surface of the rudiments and wasting time 
in unprofitable comment. (Sehling III: 125.) 

The Regulations of the electorate of Saxon j^ in 1580 are much 
more specific than those of 1528. Not only is there the usual de- 
mand for "learned, god-fearing, indefatigable men qualified for 
their work," but there appears also a definite statement of the 
qualifications of an efficient schoolmaster. Of such a person 
"three things are demanded: 1. That he shall be thoroughly 
learned; 2. That he be diligent and indefatigable, strenuous and 
serious with the boys, but yet friendly and discreet; 3. That he 
know the correct way to teach boys." (Vormbaum I: 277.) 
The rector must be not only upright and god-fearing but also 
gifted with understanding and ability to teach; must be a 
good grammaticus, well trained in Latin; earnest but not proud 
and unfriendly; he must also be patient and indefatigable, 
finding pleasure and a good will in his work. (Vormbaum I: 
271.) Similar requirements are found in the regulations for 
the Latin school in Brieg (1581) where it is stated that the 
rector must be "of remarkable piety, virtue, faithfulness, 
and diligence" in the performance of all his duties, surpassing 
all his colleagues" in the maintenance of discipline, in ex- 



56 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

cellence of morals, and in integrity of life" (Vormbaum I: 
322.) Nordhausen (1583), Lower Saxony (1585), and the Ste- 
phaneum of Aschersleben (1589) make the usual general require- 
ments in regard to the character and fitness of the teacher. 
(Vormbaum I: 368, 397, 640.) 

From these citations from the ordinances it appears that only 
in exceptional cases were the examining authorities given more 
than the most general guidance in the selection of teachers. 
Almost everything depended upon the caprice or conscientious- 
ness of the men who w^ere charged with the examination and ap- 
pointment of schoolmasters. No approximately fixed standard 
is to be discovered outside of the vague requirements of respec- 
tability and a degree of learning commensurate with the curric- 
ulum of the school. And even in the matter of curriculum it 
is probably true that its real character depended more upon the 
ability of the teacher than the selection of the teacher did upon 
it. The varying expressions, positive and negative, relative to 
the intellectual preparation of the teacher seem to indicate that 
the quality of the teacher was hardly up to the standard demanded 
by the work to be accomplished. That is to say, appointing 
boards were influenced more by the necessity of getting a teacher 
than by the need of securing such a person as would be able to 
fulfil adequately the demands of the prescribed curriculum. 

Certificates. Occasionally we find a demand that the candi- 
date for a teaching position furnish credentials in the form of a 
certificate of character and ability, — apparently a kind of letter 
of recommendation from his last place of service or study. The 
Palatinate (1556) is a good example of this. Here we find a de- 
mand for "information in regard to his previous life and con- 
duct." (Vormbaum I: 67.) According to the regulations of 
Wiirttemberg (1559), which has already been quoted (p. 54), 
the candidate is not to be admitted to examination until he has 
presented " authentic and trustworthy certificates of his descent, 
life, and conduct, either from the magistrate under whose juris- 
diction he was born and has lived, or from his teachers and the 
authorities under whom he has lived, served, and taught." 
(Vormbaum I: 94.) Exactly the same demands are made in the 
regulations of the electorate of Saxony in 1580, even the lang- 
uage used being almost identically the same. The regulations 



Appointment and Tenure 57 

for the gymnasium in the city of Nordhausen (1583) call for 
"written testimonials" in regard to the "life and learning" {Le- 
ben und Gelehrsamkeit) of the prospective teacher. (Vormbaum 
I: 368.) In Mecklenburg (1552) it is required that any person 
who is to be installed as schoolmaster must bring a certificate of 
fitness from the examining committee at Rostock. (Vormbaum 
I: 65.) In Lippe (1571) the committee in charge of employing 
teachers is especially ordered to investigate candidates and see 
"what reliable testimonials" they have from those in whose 
service or under whose teaching they have been. (Vormbaum 
1 : 223.) The demand for certificates of this character was a means 
of preventing imposition by unworthy persons and of checking 
the practice of running away from positions without giving the 
authorities due notice. The tendency of such requirements must 
have been towards making the matter of securing a position as 
teacher rather a more difficult undertaking; hence it may be re- 
garded as a force in improving the quality of teachers both mor- 
ally and intellectually. 

Degrees. Only occasionally is the university degree demanded 
of the teacher, even in the Latin school. Sometimes when the 
candidate has the master's degree he is exempt from the ex- 
amination which is ordinarily required. Such is the case in 
Brunswick- Wolfenbuttel in 1543. (Richter II: 57.) The reg- 
ulations for Brunswick in 1529 prescribe that the head of the 
school at St. Martin shall be master of arts. (Vormbaum I: 
11.) In Halden (1544) it is required that if the schoolmaster is 
not ^^M agister promotus" he shall be at least " M agister Latinus 
et congruus Dialecticus et Musicus." (Vormbaum I: 52.) The 
Constitution and Ordnung of the Poedagogium at Heidelberg (1565) 
requires that the teachers in the three upper classes shall have 
the degree of "M agister promotus" or shall be about to receive 
it; while the teachers in the lower classes shall be at least of the 
rank of " Baccalaurei." (Vormbaum I: 180.) While Altstadt 
Salzwedel (1579) does not definitely demand an academic degree, 
it requires that teachers shall as far as possible be secured from 
the University of Frankfort on the Oder. (Sehling 3: 278.) 

Installation. A striking evidence of the importance attached 
to the office of teacher, or more especially to that of rector, is 
found in the fact that the teacher was often inducted into office 



58 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

with solemn ceremonies and obligation by oath. Definite pro- 
vision in the ordinances for such ceremonies is found generally in 
the latter part of the century. This does not necessarily mean 
that such formality was lacking in the early part of the century; 
the early ordinances being less detailed, may merely fail to give 
definite statements of what was generally or often done. One 
of the best descriptions of the exact nature of the ceremonies and 
oath of inauguration is that found in the Wiirttemberg Ordnung 
of 1559. Even the teacher in a German school which had no 
connection with a Latin school was bound by a special obliga- 
tion. This part of the Ordnung runs as follows: 

"First, that he shall continually hold in mind this our Ord- 
nung and shall keep himself informed in regard to his duties. 

"Then, that by divine grace he shall diligently govern the 
school and children entrusted to his care and shall set the youth 
an example of a virtuous, respectable and pure life. 

"He shall not at any hour leave the school without good and 
sufiicient reasons; but he shall be in the school at the proper time 
and shall by teaching and other means carry out diligently what 
is prescribed in these regulations. 

"He shall not punish beyond measure nor in wrath, but shall 
with moderation hold the children to learning and to discipline. 

"He shall faithfully and diligently instruct the children in 
the catechism, hymns, and prayers, and instruct and drill them 
in the same. 

"It shall be his duty to be attentive and obedient to the Super- 
intendent, the pastor, the civil authority and the court, to ad- 
vance the interests of the school with diligence, and to prevent 
injury and detriment. 

"If, during his term of service, any difference arise between 
him and any of our subjects, in which it shall be necessary for 
us to decide, he shall be satisfied with the decision without fur- 
ther appeal. 

"He shall not journey away from the school or leave it for 
good without the consent of the court and the superintendents. 

"When he wishes to leave service, he shall give three months' 
notice so that another may be secured meantime. 

"If he is in debt to any of our subjects he shall not leave with- 
out paying them or making satisfactory arrangement for pay- 
ment. 

"He shall in every respect carry out such instructions as are 
given him by the superintendents and pastors in our name. 

"To this he shall give his hand in the presence of the pastor 
and the court (Gericht), as a token that he will perform all 
this faithfully." (Vormbaum I: 163, 164.) 



Appointment and Tenure 59 

The obligation of the associates in the Pcedagogium at Stutt- 
gart (Wiirttemberg, 1582) sets forth in the same manner the items 
in which the teacher pledged his obedience. This article is not 
found in the Ordnung of 1559. It reads as follows: 

"You promise herewith to be faithful to the illustrious and 
honorable prince and Lord, Lewis, Duke of Wiirttemberg and 
Teck, Count of Mumpelgart, etc., to advance the interests of his 
grace and to ward off damage and injury, to perform your duties 
in the Pcedagogium diligently and faithfully, not to neglect your 
assigned lessons (lediones), but to carry on all necessary lessons 
according to the Ordnung and on no account to be absent from 
them, to be obedient to the Pcedagogarch as your superior, etc. 

"Item, to assist the Pcedagogarch faithfully, and in his ab- 
sence to give strict attention to the school and to help maintain 
good order and Christian discipline, to give the youth the ex- 
ample of a virtuous, respectable and pure life, and to give them 
no occasion of stumbling. When punishment of pupils is ne- 
cessary on account of indolence and badness, to inflict it without 
passion, intemperance, or violence (Boldern) but to use first, 
moderation and gentle words: and where this is not effective, 
to punish with the rod in moderation and discretion as the gen- 
eral Schulordnung prescribes; to abide by the same faithfully; 
not to be absent from the school without permission from the 
Pcedagogarch. If, during the term of your service and residence 
here, there shall arise any controversy between you and any of 
the subjects of our gracious prince and lord, you shall abide by 
the decision of his princely grace or that of the church council. 
If you wish to end your service you shall give a quarter's notice 
to the church council or his princely grace. In all matters you 
shall govern yourself according to the Prince's Schulordnung 
and his orders, and shall in every way conduct yourself as an 
honorable teacher should, as you must at the day of judgment 
give account to Almighty God." (Vormbaum I: 101.) 

In the Ordnung of Pomerania (1563) is the definite require- 
ment that "All officers (Diener) of school and church shall, as 
soon as they are appointed and installed, promise solemnly to 
govern themselves according to this Ordnung and not to set 
themselves against the superintendent, the pastor, or the secular 
authorities, but to render to the authorities due obedience, and 
reverence without reluctance, under penalty of severe punish- 
ment." (Vormbaum I: 168.) In the section of "Schools, 
Schoolmasters and their Associates," the Visitations- und Con- 
sistorialordnung of Brandenburg (1573), makes mention of ap- 



60 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

pointment and installation of teachers and their assistants, 
these matters being placed in the hands of the pastors and coun- 
cils in various towns. The reason given for requiring a definite 
and solemn obligation is that teachers, according to the report, 
have had the practice of neglecting the grinding work of drill in 
grammar for the easier and more attractive lessons on the poets. 
"Consequently, in order that this and other abuses may be 
avoided, the schoolmasters and their associates shall assume a 
solemn obligation to be bound by this particular requirement 
and by the entire Schulordnung, to be indefatigable, to drill 
their pupils daily in grammar and syntax, to have declensions, 
conjugations, and constructions given in connection with what- 
ever is read, to accustom the pupils to read and speak clearly 
and distinctly, etc." (Vormbaum I: 227.) 

The Saxon Schulordnung of 1580 shows the highest develop- 
ment of the machinery of examination, appointment, and in- 
stallation. After a very rigid examination, the' candidate is 
sent to the board which originally chose him for their particular 
school. Then in the presence of various officers of church and 
school, the Schulordnung is read to the teacher elect. In addi- 
tion to this the teacher is required to use the Ordnung daily in 
order to keep his duties clearly in mind. He is to lay it to heart 
that his is a high and precious office, ordained by God to the end 
of training the children in the fear of God, of maintaining the 
office of the ministry of the Gospel, and of preserving good govern- 
ment. He is bound to rule with diligence the school that is 
committed to him and to give the youth a blameless example. 
He is required to use the same moderation and strictness in dis- 
cipline as that already mentioned in the quotation from Wiirt- 
temberg (1559). It is required that Latin be spoken by the teach- 
ers among themselves and with the students who are fairly well 
grounded in grammar. Then there follow the usual regulations 
in regard to a faithful attendance upon school duties, obedience 
to authorities, adherence to orthodox religious beliefs, and pre- 
serving conditions of amity among teachers. (Vormbaum I: 
252-257.) Upon installation the schoolmaster in Lippe, accord- 
ing to the Ordnung of 1571, was required to give a fivefold pledge 
covering the following matters: fidelity in the religious training 
of his pupils; strict adherence to the prescribed course of study; 



Appointment and Tenure 61 

care in the matters of discipline and moral instruction; attendance 
upon church services; and obedience to all regulations prescribed 
in the Kirchen- und Schulordnungen or made by the superintend- 
ent or rector. (Vormbaum I: 223.) The matter of installation 
in the Gymnasium at Nordhausen (1583) is given into the hands 
of the three inspectors; but when a rector is to be inducted into 
office the council may send a representative. No description 
of the accompanying ceremonies is given; but a definite state- 
ment of the duties of the different officers is furnished. These 
obligations are very much like those already quoted from the 
Ordnungen of Saxony, Wiirttemberg, Pomerania, and Branden- 
burg. (Vormbaum I: 365.) 

Throughout the century there is a growing tendency to pre- 
scribe definitely the obligation which the rector and his asso- 
ciates shall take upon themselves. Sometimes this material is 
put in the form of an oath of office or a pledge; but much oftener 
it is given merely as a set of rules which are to bind the officers 
of the school. The Saxon School Plan of 1528 gives only a gen- 
eral statement of what is expected of the teacher, with a sketch 
of the course of study; while the later ordinances give long series 
of regulations which circumscribe the officers of the school. In 
the regulations for the Gym,nasiu7n in Burgsteinfurt (1596) there 
is a list of twenty-seven rules to govern the rector and his asso- 
ciates. (Vormbaum I: 648, 649.) 

Dismissal. Where any definite statement in regard to dis- 
missal is made, the authority for such action is placed in the 
hands of the individual or boards who have been given the power 
of appointment. Examples of this are found in the case of 
Saxony (1557), where dismissal and appointment are mentioned 
together as matters in which the consent of the pastor must be 
obtained; in that of the Prussian Bischofswahl, (1568) which has 
already been quoted in the paragraph upon appointment, and in 
that of Bitterfeld (1531), Havelberg in Brandenburg (1545), 
and Wittenberg. (Pallas I: 1: 25.) Some of the regulations 
prescribe that in case of dismissal the teacher shall be given 
notice of three or six months. Baden-Durlach (1536) (Vorm- 
baum I: 31) and Stralsund (1591) (Vormbaum I: 515) and Nord- 
hausen (1583) (Vormbaum I: 373) require a notice of three 
months; while Pomerania (1563) (Vormbaum I: 168) places 



62 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

the time at six months. Similar requirements are made in case 
a teacher wishes to leave. Wiirttemberg, for example, in 1559 
prescribes that when the schoolmaster "wishes to serve no longer 
he shall notify our church council, pastors, and magistrates a 
quarter in advance, and take his leave with their knowledge." 
(Vormbaum 1 : 96.) There is in this last clause the implication 
that teachers had a practice of leaving suddenly without con- 
sulting the convenience of anyone but themselves. Occasional 
references to "runaway schoolteachers" furnish further evidence 
of such conduct. That this evil was recognized and that steps 
were taken to check it may be inferred from a passage in the 
Kirchenordnung of the Palatinate (1564): "In order that they 
may be certain of the conduct and doctrine of employees of 
church and school, the councillors of our church shall accept 
none such without a good testimonial of his life and conduct. To 
this they shall give good heed that it be true and correct, in or- 
der that they may not employ frivolous runaway persons who 
wander around for their belly's sake." (Richter II: 277.) 

Upon the question. What were sufficient grounds for dismissal? 
the records shed little light. It may be taken for granted that 
since the board which had power to appoint was generally given 
power to remove, the question of sufficient cause for dismissal 
was largely a matter for decision according to the varying cir- 
cumstances which arose. In the chapter on Character and 
Training, various matters such as neglect, drunkenness, and 
brawling are mentioned as reasons for removal. The Stralsund 
Ordnung of 1591 names specifically "neglect and unfaithfulness" 
in the performance of school duties as sufiicient cause for dis- 
missal. (Vormbaum I: 515.) One case is on record where a 
teacher was dismissed for recommending to the rector a better 
method of instruction. This happened in the school in Torgau 
of which Johann Moser was the head. (F. J. Grulich, Denkw. 
von Torgau, p. 176.) The Ordnung for the city of Hall (1526) 
states that the council may dismiss teachers who neglect their 
duties. (Mertz, p. 460.) 

Tenure. One of the great evils in the schools of the sixteenth 
century was the frequent change of teachers; although in many 
cases the preparation of the teacher was so poor that it seems 
that any change must have been for the better. Positions were 



Appointment and Tenure 63 

often filled by men who were wanderers rather than teachers, 
men who had little fitness for the work of teaching and little 
interest in the real welfare of the pupils given into their charge. 
Such men could not hold positions long even though they so 
desired. On the other hand, it seems that they were often so 
possessed of Wanderlust that they were easily discouraged with 
the dijfficulties of such positions as they held and easily per- 
suaded to move to some other more attractive field. 

The ordinances are singularly lacking in clear statements of 
the length of time for which the teacher is to be chosen. Where 
no definite tenure is mentioned, and where a certain board is 
given power to appoint and dismiss, it is probably to be inferred 
that the teacher is to hold his office as long as his work is satis- 
factory. The frequent mention of the matter of warning of three 
or six months may be taken as further evidence of tenure during 
satisfactory service. Even in such a case as that of Baden- 
Durlach (1536) where the schoolmaster is required to apply for 
the school every year, the statement, "Where it is not convenient 
to the city to keep the schoolmaster longer or where he does not 
desire to serve longer, each shall give the other party a quarter's 
notice" (Vormbaum I: 31), will bear the interpretation that 
the schoolmaster was supposed to serve for an indefinite term, 
depending upon the local conditions and his own desire in the 
matter. The Pomeranian Ordnung of 1563 requires that "the 
authorities shall, as far as possible, arrange that the school- 
master be appointed for a definite number of years (as changes 
are bad for the youth) and that there be no dismissals for trivial 
causes." (Vormbaum I: 168.) It cannot be said that the or- 
dinances themselves encourage short tenure or frequent changes. 
Even where a teacher wished to be advanced to a better place in 
the same school (perhaps for the sake of the increased salary), 
he found the change difficult. In the first place, he had to wait 
until there was a vacancy; and in the second place he had to 
convince his employers that his work in the lower class had been 
good enough to warrant his promotion. The Augsburg Ordnung 
of 1558 encourages teachers in the lower classes to hope for pro- 
motion but warns them that fortune is sometimes fickle and 
urges that they console themselves with a good conscience and 
the hope of divine reward. (Vormbaum 1:441.) The Ordnung 



64 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

of the Palatinate (1564) speaks of vacancies in such a way as to 
lead to the inference that appointments are made for an indef- 
inite term, depending upon the mutual satisfaction of the teacher 
and the employing board.^ As a general practice, each teacher 
is employed for some specific class or division of the school, 
holding that position during his entire tenure unless promoted 
by definite action of the employing board This arrangement 
of fixed position is especially true of the rector; but in the case 
of the Gymnasium in Burgsteinfurt there is the regulation that 
the rector shall be chosen annually from the professors. That 
is to say, the form of government is this case is more like that of 
the university than that of the ordinary Gym7iasium. (Vorm- 
baum I: 646.) 

The fact that teachers were appointed for an indefinite term 
does not mean that long tenure resulted. The records show 
frequent changes. The Registraturen for Brehna show that 
there were changes in 1578, 1580, and 1582. (Pallas 1:2:331.) 
In Dassel (Kalenberg) between 1540 and 1596 there were thirty- 
two schoolmasters, — the average tenure being less than two 
years. (Kayser, p. 346.) In the celebrated Annaberg Latin 
School there were between 1550 and 1609 eleven rectors (three 
serving about one year each), fifteen conrectors, twenty-four 
Baccalaurien, and seven cantors. Even in this extraordinarily 
good school the average tenure in the best position (that of rec- 
tor) was less than six years. We have the record of one of the 
teachers in this school (Lyttichius), who was in Annaberg a quar- 
ter of a year, in Schonthal two years, rector in Naburg for an 
unknown period, in Castell near Mainz two years, in Marienberg 
ten years, then in Annaberg again as teacher for one year, and 
later superintendent in Annaberg and in Bischofswerda. In 
each of four of these eight positions his tenure was two years or 
less. Examples of long tenure are so rare that they call for 
special mention by the writers of the records. Such a case is 
that of George Schumann, who was in the Annaberg school for 
seventeen years, fourteen years as tertius and three as conrector 



1 " In case any official of the church, be he pastor, deacon, sub-deacon , 
schoohnaster, or assistant, shall die or leave, or shall on account of heresy or 
bad conduct become intolerable and have to be removed, our church counc il 
shall immediately fill the vacancies." (Richter II: 277.) 



Appointment ayid Tenure 65 

(Bartusch, p. 70.) The report of the visitation in Kemberg for 
1555 mentions the fact that the schoolmaster at Pretzsh had been 
there as such for eight years. (Pallas I: 1: 260.) The school- 
master in Kemberg in the same year had held his position for 
five years and his cantor had been a year and a half in that place. 
(Pallas 1:1: 183.) The records for this school show that in 1575 
Andreas Schilling Cameracensis had been schoolmaster there for 
twelve years and his cantor had served for five. (Pallas I: 195.) 
In 1598 the schoolmaster had been three years in his position. 
(Pallas I: 1: 267.) Other cases that have special mention are 
the cantor in Prettin (who was also sexton) with twenty-one 
years and a half to his credit, the schoolmaster in the same place 
with a record of six and a half years up to 1577 (Pallas 3: 22), 
and the schoolmaster in Herzberg with eleven years up to 1602. 
(Pallas 3: 449.) As the Regisiraturen are not the records of the 
boards which appointed teachers but merely of the visitation 
committees, they do not often contain accounts of changes of 
teachers. It is only the exceptional case that receives mention. 
If a teacher had been in service three or four years or longer, the 
fact is likely to be mentioned. From what we can learn of in- 
dividual teachers or schools it seems clear that the teacher's 
term of service in any one place was generally short ; although 
there was no regulation which tended to encourage brief tenure. 
In the case of girls' schools, while the records are even more 
meager than in the case of boys' schools, it seems probable that 
where the teachers were women the term of service was much 
longer. Women were hardly subject to the same wandering 
tendencies as men, except in such cases as when the teacher of the 
girls' school was the wife of the teacher of the boys' school. And 
even then the man, being married, was not likely to wander as 
much as one who had no wife and family. The teacher of the 
girls' school at Grimma (Frau Magdalene von Staupitz) taught 
from 1529 to 1548. (K. Grossman, p. 97.) The women teachers 
generally carried on the work of the school as a side issue which 
brought in a little money to increase the income of the husband 
who was pastor or schoolmaster. In the case of widows, the 
income from teaching made them less of a burden upon the 
parish. Consequently they were more easily satisfied than men 
and held their positions longer. As they had only very elemen- 



66 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

tary work and had the comparatively Hght task of disciplining 
girls, there were fewer occasions for dissatisfaction on the part 
of patrons than was the case with men who had almost continual 
difficulties in the management of the boys in their care. As a 
result of these conditions the tenure of women was naturally 
longer than that of men. 



CHAPTER V 

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OF TEACHERS 

The sources from which we may obtain information in regard 
to the compensation of teachers in the sixteenth century may be 
divided into three classes: (1) the Kirchenordnungen; (2) the 
Registraturen of various visitations; and (3) scattered remarks in 
the writings of various men of the period. The material in the 
first group shows something of the general spirit behind the regu- 
lations for the payment of teachers; but more especially it shows 
what limits were fixed and what arrangements were made for 
maintenance. That a certain Ordnung prescribes that a teacher 
shall have a certain salary does not necessarily imply that that 
exact amount was actually paid. Local conditions and various 
changing circumstances often made deviations from the prescribed 
rule necessary. There is, however, quite a large amount of 
material which can be used to check up the prescriptions in the 
Ordnungen. This is found in the Registraturen. Here we find 
definite records of what various parishes actually paid to teachers, 
— or promised them. The two were not always synonymous. 
In this group of material we find occasional pictures of the general 
condition of teachers, their poverty, the difficulty with which 
they secured what was due them, the miserable circumstances 
in which they lived. 

Sources of Income 

Throughout the sixteenth century, the teacher's source of in- 
come is found mainly in a combination of specified salary and 
tuition, with a long list of various incidental matters which serve 
to increase an altogether inadequate revenue. The opinion of 
the governing bodies quite generally seems to have been that a 
large part of the teacher's income should consist of tuition fees. 
Almost every ordinance that makes any specific arrangement 
for the payment of teachers provides more or less carefully for 



98 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

such fees. Brunswick (1528) states that the teachers in the Ger- 
man schools for boys are to depend principally upon such fees 
and that in this case the rate is to be higher than in the Latin 
schools as the time is shorter and the schoolmasters have no other 
source of income. (Vormbaum I: 17.) The Wiirttemberg 
regulations of 1559 provide that tuition shall be paid by the stu- 
dents in the Pcedagogium at Stuttgart. (Vorbaum I: 101.) 
The makers of the Breslau Ordnung of 1570 seek to bring order out 
of chaos largely by prescribing definite rules in regard to the col- 
lection and disbursement of tuition fees. It is prescribed that 
all fees are to be collected systematically and divided equitably 
among the teachers. (Vormbaum I: 206.) The Brunswick 
Ordnung of 1596 also makes careful provision for the payment of 
tuition fees. (Mertz, 642.) Other regulations which, in greater 
or less detail, make provision for tuition are Kemberg (1528), 
Dassel (1542), Holzminden (1542), Cologne (1543), and Ham- 
burg (1529). In addition to the regular fees for tuition there are 
occasional demands for matriculation fees. This is true in the 
latter part of the century. Students entering the Gymnasium 
at Stralsund must pay such a fee, whether they are children of 
citizens or not. (Vormbaum I: 481.) In like manner the /Sc/iwZ- 
ordnung for Altdorf (1575) provides that the children of the rich 
shall pay a matriculation fee. (Vormbaum I: 609.) A similar 
provision occurs in the regulations for the Latin School in Brieg 
(1581), a distinction being made in favor of the children of citizens. 
The poor are entirely exempt (Mertz, 617) as are the children 
of professors, pastors and ministers. (Vormbaum I: 322.) The 
Brunswick Ordnung of 1596 makes the following provision: Every 
student shall upon entering pay an enrollment fee of five groschen 
if he is able. (Mertz, 642.) 

In addition to the amounts which teachers received from tui- 
tion fees, there was frequently added a gift or appropriation 
from the general treasury. That this grant was not always re- 
garded as salary is shown by the occasional mention of it as a 
"gift," — the purpose of which was to eke out the too scanty 
income of the teacher. However, there was a growing tendency 
to pay teachers a definite amount quarterly or annually from the 
general treasury and to regard this sum as an essential part of 
their support. As early as 1525 there appears in a Landesordnung 



Economic Conditions of Teachers 69 

(that of Prussia) the conception that, since it is necessary to 
train those who are to take the places of those who were then 
officers in the community, it is proper to place the maintenance 
of this training upon the general treasury; but schools are not to 
be established unless it is certain that there are funds sufficient 
to maintain them. (Richter I: 34.) Kemberg (1528) provides 
that a large part of the teacher's maintenance shall be paid from 
the common fund. (Pallas I: 1: 301.) In the Brunswick Ord- 
nung of 1528, already mentioned under the discussion of tuition, 
is found the statement that the two teachers in the German 
school are to receive annually a gratuity from the treasury. "In 
return for this they are bound to give our children good instruc- 
tion from the Word of God, the Ten Commandments, the Creed, 
the Lord's Prayer, the two sacraments ordained by Christ, sacred 
songs, etc." (Vormbaum I: 17.) A similar provision for a do- 
nation to the teacher is found in the case of Dassel (Kalenberg) 
in 1542. Where the regular sources of income are not sufficient, 
it is permissible to give an extra amount of "four or five florins, 
in order that the children may not be neglected. " (Kayser, 345.) 
The Kirchenordnung for the district of Lubeck (including Trave- 
miinde and Mollen) prescribes that the schools are to be main- 
tained from the funds accruing from the income of the church. 
This applies to the payment of teachers and to the building and 
maintenance of schools. That the church was not to bear the 
burden of support alone is shown by the fact that the Lubeck 
schoolmaster was to receive tuition fees also. (Mertz, 472.) 
The Saxon Visitation Articles of 1533, which supplement the 
Instruktion fiir die Visitatorn of 1528, place the burden of the sup- 
port of teachers and their assistants upon the general treasury. 
(Mertz, 475.) The same is true of the Hanover Or (^rmngf of 1536: 
"the church treasury, from which the schools are to be sup- 
ported." (Mertz, 482.) The necessity of supporting schools as 
the nurseries of the church is so thoroughly recognized that it is 
hardly necessary to give further references to passages in the 
Kirchenordnungen. A good general statement of the whole idea 
which works out into the fact of support from the general fund 
is to be found in the Prussian Bischofswahl of 1568: "School- 
masters are the fathers of all the prophets; for the latter have all 
been discipuli, and have learned of their teachers and school- 



70 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

masters. The world is not worthy of showing gratitude for their 
work, much less of judging it and paying for it. God alone must 
be the reward and rewarder of such exalted service. Therefore 
the bishops shall have care that they (schoolmasters) are well and 
respectably supported in the towns and villages." (Richter II: 
303.) 

The funds which came into the general treasury of the church 
were derived from a variety of sources. In the first place there 
were the church lands which were a reasonably reliable source of 
revenue. Sometimes the income from fiefs was definitely de- 
voted to schools; but as a rule the income went into the general 
fund. In Dassel (1542) we find a case where the council bestows 
"upon the school forever" certain lands. (Kayser, 345.) A 
similar case is that of Holzmiinden in the same year. (Kayser, 
84.) Wittenberg in 1545 likewise provides that certain income 
from property shall be used for school purposes. These cases of 
direct application of income from church property to school use 
however are hardly the rule. We are concerned here rather with 
the general relation of the church lands and the common fund for 
church and school purposes. In the confusion resulting from the 
various religious and political changes incident to the Protestant 
Revolt, the new churches were able to hold a great deal of the 
land which had in the course of time become the property of 
monasteries, cathedrals, and local churches. The Mecklenburg 
Kirchenordnung of 1552 laments the fact that "the Papists have 
squandered the church properties"; but the authorities are to 
preserve as much as remains and devote it to the maintenence 
of church and university. (Mertz, 505.) The Magdeburg 
ordinance of 1562 requires that "The income of church fiefs, 
brotherhoods, vicarages, and benefices shall not be turned to 
profane uses but shall be used for the maintenence of churches 
and schools and for the aid of poor students." (Richter II: 229.) 
The Prussian Bischofswahl of 1568 mentions various sources of 
income for church and school and provides that the income in 
money from the various farms shall be collected according to the 
amount of land and disbursements made according to the amount 
of work. In cities the income is to be used for church and school; 
but if there is anything left over, it may be used as stipends for 
students who have "already studied grammar at their own ex- 



Economic Conditions of Teachers 71 

pense and who wish to go to the university at Konigsberg. " 
(Mertz, 567.) 

The income of the general treasury was further augmented by 
special gifts of money or suppHes, by the general contributions 
of church members (whether as tithes or not), and by bequests. 
In the Prussian Bischofswahl of 1568 is found the following classi- 
fication of sources of income: (1) General property (not real 
estate) such as books; (2) Revenue from lands; (3) Money. 
Summing up then, we may say that the income of the general 
treasury of the church was derived from the gifts in money and 
in kind which came regularly from church members, from the 
revenues of monasteries and farms which belonged to the church, 
and from special gifts and bequests. 

In addition to the grant from the general treasury and the 
tuition fees from pupils, the teacher had various other sources of 
income; most important among which was the dwelling with its 
plot of ground, furnished him almost universally. In theory 
at least, the dwelling was to be adequate to the needs of the 
teacher and his family. The Brunswick Kirchenordnung of 
1528 provides that each of the schoolmasters shall have a suit- 
able dwelling. The unmarried associates must be content with a 
room each. Such dwellings and rooms are to be provided by 
the council at the expense of the general treasury. ( Vormbaum I : 
14.) According to the Schleswig-Holstein ordinance of 1542, the 
officers of the church are to furnish the teachers with suitable and 
comfortable houses and are to make such improvements and re- 
pairs as may be necessary. (Richter I: 358.) In the Wiirttem- 
berg Schulordnung of 1559 under the heading "Maintenance 
of Teachers" is found the following requirement: "Every school 
shall have a suitable building in which the teachers and pupils 
may live comfortably." (Vormbaum I: 97.) This refers to 
Latin schools, not to the village German schools. At times the 
teacher was given a certain amount of furniture with the dwelling: 
for example, in the case of Pomerania, where tables, benches, and 
cupboards are furnished and repairs are made at the expense of 
the general treasury. (Richter I: 253 and II: 248.) As has 
already been indicated, the parish is made responsible for keeping 
the schoolmasters' dwellings in repair. The Brunswick Ordnung 
of 1528, that of Pomerania (1535), that of Schleswig-Holstein 



72 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

(1542), and that of Brunswick-Wolf enbiittel (1543) place the 
entire maintenance of the dwelling of the teacher in the care of 
the parish. The last mentioned ordinance reads: "The financial 
committee {Kastenherrn) shall build and keep in good condition 
houses for the school employees. " (Richter II : 62.) Sometimes 
the matter of providing and maintaining buildings for schools 
and teachers is not left entirely in the hands of a single body of 
officials. 

According to the Ordnung of Liibeck (1531) the local council 
was obliged to look after the walls of the house, the representa- 
tives of the schools were to care for all other items. The teachers 
themselves were evidently expected to provide a part of the furni- 
ture, although not all. Special attention is called to the fact 
that when a teacher leaves he is not to carry off furniture which 
does not belong to him personally. (Richter I: 146, 150.) The 
Baden-Durlach Ordnung of 1536 is more specific in regard to 
what shall be furnished by the school authorities from the general 
treasury and what shall be provided by the schoolmaster. Only 
the matters of "walls, roof, and sills" are to be maintained at 
general expense; while the schoolmaster must pay for all necessary 
repairs of doors, windows and benches whether the damage is 
done by him or others. (Vormbaum I: 31.) Speaking of con- 
ditions in general we inay say that providing the teacher with a 
dwelling was regarded as the duty of the school committee just 
as much as seeing that he had an adequate salary. 

Very often a small tract of ground was placed at the disposal 
of the teacher. This enabled him to do a little gardening, and to 
have pasturage for his cow, — if he had one. In Aschersleben 
the rector and the conrector of the Stephaneum each had a hide 
of land in addition to his other sources of income. (Mertz, 630.) 
Wiirttemberg (1559) provides that the schoolmaster shall have 
the alliterative trio "Wasser, Wonn, and Waid" (water, dwelling, 
and grazing-ground). (Vormbaum I: 97.) Pretzsch in the dis- 
trict of Kemberg (1555) grants the schoolmaster a piece of land 
where he may sow a couple of bushels of grain annually. (Pallas 
I: 1: 262.) Bitterfeld (1531) gives the schoolmaster a house 
and garden during his term of service. (Pallas 1:2:7.) In Eld- 
agsen, district of Kalenberg, (1542) the schoolmaster was granted 



Economic Conditions of Teachers 73 

four Morgen^ of land to hold during his lifetime. He was given 
the privilege of cultivating it himself or of renting it and enjoying 
the income. (Kayser, 344.) Occasional complaints by school- 
masters to the effect that they are not allowed sufficient grazing- 
ground indicates that they regarded this as a regular part of their 
maintenance. Good examples of this are found in the Registra- 
turen for Prettin. (Pallas 3: 15, 28.) 

The sources of income which have already been mentioned 
furnished by far the greater part of the teacher's maintenance; 
but there were other lesser sources which must have furnished 
very acceptable additions to an income which was apparently 
never large enough. Special fees were given for various services, 
especially for singing at funerals and weddings. The regulations 
for Calenberg and Gottingen provide that the schoolmaster may 
claim a fee for singing at the burial of the rich. (Richter I: 
366.) The Brandenburg Visitations- und Konsistorialordnung of 
1573 (Richter II: 367) has a similar provision. The Brunswick 
Kirchenordnung of 1528 directs that when an associate sings with 
the pupils at a wedding or a funeral and receives fees for so doing 
he shall share what he receives with the schoolmaster. (Vorm- 
baum I: 14.) Similar material is found in the Ordnung for 
Bremen 1534 (Richter I: 246, 247), Calenberg and Gottingen 
1542 (Richter I: 365), Brunswick-Wolfenbiittel 1543 (Richter 
II: 60), Brunswick-Liineberg 1564 (Richter II: 286), and Pome- 
rania 1563 (Richter II: 248). Free meals on various occasions 
also helped to keep the teacher's living expenses within his income. 
"Since the salary in most places is small, the bishops shall dis- 
creetly arrange to have citizens invite certain teachers to meals 
for the glory of God and the good of the schools." (Richter II: 
303.) Such is the arrangement suggested in the Prussian Bischofs- 
wahl of 1568. The Schulordnung of Brandenburg (1564) also 
provides that the teachers be given free meals occasionallj^ by 
the citizens. (Vormbaum I: 541.) Likewise the Ordnung for 
Nordhausen (1583) provides that parents shall occasionally 
make special gifts to teachers in token of their gratitude. (Vorm- 
baum I: 393.) A similar case is that of Brunswick 1596, XI, 1. 
(Mon. Ger. Peed. I: 143.) 

^ A Morgen in Saxony was about three-fourths of an acre. A Hide was 
20, 30, or 40 Morgen. 



74 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

Private instruction was another means sometimes employed 
by the teacher to enlarge his income. This kind of work must 
occasionally have resulted in an increase of such gifts as are 
mentioned in the preceding paragraph. The Brunswick Ord- 
nung of 1528 points out to teachers the way to an enlargement of 
gratuities from parents through exceptional diligence. (Vorm- 
baum I: 14.) In the opinion of the writer of the Kirchenordnung 
of Hamburg (1529) teachers who are married can give private 
lessons without injury to the work of the school. Permission 
to carry on such work is given. (Vormbaum I: 23.) On account 
of abuses which had grown up, the Breslau Schulordnung of 1570 
devotes several pages to the discussion and regulation of private 
instruction. It seems that some of the teachers on account of 
small salaries were in the habit of giving private instruction to a 
great many pupils, as many as one or two hundred. This neces- 
sarily caused them to neglect their school duties. Furthermore 
some of the teachers used questionable methods in securing 
pupils for private instruction, thus causing bitterness and strife. 
The material covered in such teaching was governed by the caprice 
of the teacher; so that there was no uniformity nor was there 
even general conformity with the usual course of study. In 
order to correct these abuses it was decreed that teachers should 
give private instruction to their own pupils alone at times defi- 
nitely prescribed. (Vormbaum I: 205-209.) No exact regula- 
tion of charges was made ; but it was stated that fees for this work 
of private instruction should not be so very much in addition to 
the usual fees of the school. The Brunswick Ordnung of 1596 
limits to ten the number of pupils to whom the teacher may give 
private lessons. (Mertz, 642.) From these regulations it seems 
that the giving of private instruction was quite a general prac- 
tice; that the church and school authorities generally overlooked 
the evil effects of the system on account of the fact that it enabled 
the poorly paid teacher to add a little to his income; but that 
attempts were occasionally made to regulate the abuses that grew 
up and that such work was often the result of an attempt by the 
teacher to please the parents of some of his pupils, especially 
those parents who were well-to-do. 

Gifts which teachers (generally accompanied by their pupils) 
collected before the house may be placed in almost the same cate- 



Economic Conditions of Teachers 75 

gory as those mentioned in connection with private instruction, 
except in such cases as the latter came to be regarded as charges 
for tuition. At certain times it was customary for the teacher 
to go from house to house with his pupils, singing and soliciting 
gratuities. The practice was regarded as a perfectly legitimate 
method of increasing the income of the teacher. A certain 
kindly spirit breathes through the following passage in the Bran- 
denburg Visitations- und Konsistorialordnung. "In order that 
schoolmasters and their assistants may have suitable mainte- 
nance, the citizens shall not only pay from the general treasury 
what is prescribed by our Visitatores but also give gratuities in 
addition to the tuition fees which are to be paid faithfully and 
regularly, — such gratuities to be given according to one's ability 
and according to the custom of the place, as, for example, when 
the pupils sing from house to house at New Year or Martinmas. " 
(Vormbaum I: 228.) 

About the same material is found in the Schulordnung for 
Nordhausen (1583): ''Teachers shall be granted the usual vaca- 
tions and shall have the privilege of collecting gifts for their 
figured music at New Year and also at the feast of St. Gregory; 
they may also accept other gifts which are brought to the school." 
(Vormbaum I: 366.) The same ordinance permits the teachers, 
the rector excepted, to sing from house to house at New Year. 
Teachers and pupils are to behave themselves respectably and 
not sing after eight o'clock. (Ibid. 318.) Whatever money is 
received is to be divided among the teachers "in arithmetical 
proportion." Mertz mentions one case (Essling, 1536) where 
such collections are forbidden as being unworthy of the teaching 
profession. (Mertz, p. 426.) 

Other gifts which the teacher might occasionally hope to re- 
ceive were those which came from pupils or parents when the 
pupil was about to leave school, especially when a leaving cer- 
tificate was given. The Schulordnung of Nordhausen, 1583, pre- 
scribes the following course for a pupil who is about to leave 
school: "He shall greet his teachers, thank them for the instruc- 
tion which they have given him, and give to his teacher and the 
rector an honorarium according to the good will of his parents or 
friends, especially when a written certificate is requested." 
(Vormbaum I: 384.) 



76 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

The exemption of teachers from civic burdens may not be 
exactly a source of revenue; but its effect is etjuivalent to a greater 
or less sum of money. Exemption from taxes and guarantee of 
certain privileges and immunities may be considered as part of 
the maintenance of the teacher to as great a degree as their ab- 
sence would mean an actual decrease in his net income. How 
heavy civic burdens were is not certain; but nevertheless it seems 
evident that exemption from them must have been of considerable 
value to teachers. Pomerania (1535 and 1563) exempts school- 
masters, their assistants, sextons, and university professors from 
taxes upon their dwellings, but not from the burdens falling upon 
other houses or property. (Richter I: 254.) Under the para- 
graph heading " Prmlegien der Gelehrten," in the Ordnung of 
Schleswig-Holstein, 1542, appears the following: "In accordance 
with the example of our forefathers and all Christian princes it is 
ordained that preachers, all employees of the schools together 
with all scholars and students shall keep their customary privi- 
leges and freedom; that they shall be free from all burdens, since 
they have enough to do in looking after the duties of their offices 
which are of service to the common man." (Richter I: 357.) 
The same kind of total exemption appears in the Brunswick- 
Wolf enbiittel Kirchenordnung of 1543. (Vormbaum I: 50.) 
The Wiirttemberg regulations (1559) guaranteed to teachers all 
the customary privileges of citizens. (Vormbaum I: 97.) 

In addition to the sources of income which the teacher had from 
his profession as such, he very frequently made use of other means 
which had no legitimate relation to the work of the school. The 
clerical work of the parish or of the local court was likely to fall 
to the teacher on account of his superior intellectual qualifica- 
tions. On account of the relationship between the office of the 
teacher and the duties of the ecclesiastical and civil authorities, 
it was rather hard to separate the function of teaching from that 
of doing clerical work. It was apparently taken for granted in 
some cases that the duties of the teacher embraced the latter in 
addition to the former. In the case of Leining (1566) such work 
as keeping the court records is mentioned as devolving upon the 
schoolmaster or sexton. (Richter II: 289.) Various regulations 
attempting to set the office of teaching free from this outside work 
give evidence of the firm tie between the two. In Pomerania, in 



Economic Conditions of Teachers 77 

1535, we find the following passage in the Kirchenordnung: "Since 
it is found that in some of the towns the boys in the school are 
neglected because the school teacher is also town clerk {Stadt- 
schreiher), it is necessary that these two offices be separated and 
given to different persons." (Richter I: 252.) The Ordnung 
of 1563 goes a little further and forbids the nobles (Herren und 
Junker) in the small towns to employ the teachers as clerks. 
Teachers are also forbidden to carry on outside occupations; 
although exception may be made by the Visitatores in case of 
the smaller towns. (Vormbaum I: 167, 168.) Further examples 
will appear in the section given to the form and amounts of salaries. 

Other outside occupations, such as keeping boarders, seUing 
beer, and brandy, following some trade, and practicing law or 
medicine served to augment the teacher's income. The evidence 
for this is of a negative kind and consists in various regulations 
forbidding teachers to engage in such occupations as those just 
mentioned. Wiirttemberg (1559) forbids the teacher of the 
German school to act as beadle or watchman. Schoolmasters 
are forbidden to practice law or medicine. (Vormbaum I: 71 and 
96.) The Saxon General Articles of 1557 permit the teacher (sex- 
ton) in the villages to carry on a trade since his income is not 
sufl&cient to keep a family; but he is not to do such work outside 
his house or in the surrounding country or towns as that would 
do injury to "towns and masters." (Richter II: 187.) Accord- 
ing to the Kirchenordnung of Lippe (1571) any sexton is to be 
dismissed at once if he sells charms against disease or if he sells 
wine and beer publicly or if he follows any other dishonorable 
occupation. This material applies directly to teachers; as the 
sexton in Lippe had charge of the village school if he could read 
and write. (Vormbaum I: 225.) 

The sources then of the teacher's income were as follows: (1) 
tuition fees from pupils; (2) grants from the general treasury of 
the church, often made with the understanding that the teacher 
was to give religious instruction to his pupils; (3) grants from 
town funds; (4) dwelling, furniture, garden, pasturage, etc.; (5) 
a large variety of special fees for widely varying services including 
private instruction, matriculation, singing at weddings and 
funerals, playing the organ, and work as town clerk; (6) special 
gifts often in connection with the celebration of various feasts; 



78 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

(7) income from outside activities, following some trade, keeping 
boarders, acting as beadle, or even practicing law or medicine; 

(8) occasional meals; and (9) in a certain negative way, exemp- 
tions partly or completely from civic burdens. 

The income of the teacher was not altogether in the form of 
money. Indeed, in many cases, that particular kind of payment 
seems to have been very slight. This scanty money payment was 
generally supplemented in a variety of ways. Grain and hay, 
bread, wood, soup, beer, are all listed in the records showing what 
teachers received. The following entry in the Registraturen of 
Pretzsch (Kemberg) in 1555 affords a beautiful illustration of 
the complexity of the teacher's income. 

"Income of the schoolmaster: 
"10 florins from the marshall; 

" 4 loaves of bread and 8 denarii from each landowner; 
" 5 bushels of grain; 
" 1 piece of land across the Elbe, where the schooknaster may at his own 

expense sow two bushels of grain and reap the harvest; 
" one-third of a piece of meadowland at Brisitz, yielding two loads of hay; 
" 20 denarii for every corpse for which the bells are rung three times; 
" 4 denarii for each christening; 
" 1 groschen tuition for each pupil per quarter." 

In addition, the entry for 1575 records ''free participation in 
hospitality and beer" at weddings. (Pallas 1:1: 262.) 

Even the money payments were in widely varying coinage. 
Such items as "loaves of bread" are very indefinite except in 
those cases where the size of the loaf is clearly specified. 

Girls' Schools. At the bottom of the scale of salaries stand 
those of the teachers in the schools for girls. Free dweUing and 
the scanty fees for tuition generally furnished by far the larger 
part of the income of such teachers. Occasionally they received 
an addition from the general treasury; and even less often a 
definite salary was given. The special Ordnung of 1531 for the 
town of MoUen (district of Lubeck) makes provision for a dwell- 
ing for the teacher (whether man or woman) of the girls' school; 
but the matter of salary is left entirely to the parents of the pupils. 
(Richter I: 150.) The Lubeck Ordnung of the same year states 
that in all cases teachers in girls' schools shall have free dwellings, 
but shall have nothing further from the general treasury. "In 



Economic Conditions of Teachers 79 

case they fall into extraordinary want, as do other poor people, 
they, of course, have a special claim as the servants of the state. " 
(Mertz, 418.) Brunswick (1528) arranges for "gifts" to the 
schoolmistress; but the greater part of her income is to come from 
fees paid by the parents of the girls, — liberality being especially 
commended without any statement of fixed sums. (Vormbaum 
I: 17.) Hamburg (1529) has precisely the same arrangement as 
Brunswick with the addition of house rent. (Vormbaum I: 26.) 
Pomerania (1535) provides for tuition and something from the 
general treasury, but does not give any definite statement of the 
amount. In the case of Brunswick- Wolf enbtittel, 1543, we find a 
statement that the schoolmistress is to receive twenty or thirty 
guldens annually in addition to tuition fees which are to be higher 
than those in boys' schools. Only the rich are to pay tuition 
however; and some "pay more, some less." (Vormbaum I: 51.) 
A dwelling is furnished by the school authorities. It is very 
difl&cult to give an accurate statement of the actual amount of 
fees received by teachers in these schools; and the records rarely 
give any statement of payments made from the general treasury. 
Twenty or thirty guldens seems to be the maximum annual grant. 
What little evidence there is shows that teachers in girls' schools 
were very miserably paid, that in addition to their dwellings they 
had very little to expect from the local board, that they were com- 
pelled to rely upon the generosity of the parents of their pupils 
and upon their own ability to increase a scanty income by outside 
activities. 

Boys' Schools. The teachers in boys' schools were somewhat 
better paid than those in the schools for girls; and there seems to 
have been an upward tendency through the century. In the 
Ordnungen we find the same lack of definiteness here as in the 
material upon which the preceding paragraph is based; but the 
Registraturen have a few more facts. As in the case of teachers 
of girls' schools the chief source of cash income here seems to have 
been the fees which were paid by the pupils. But it must be 
understood that the teacher was not in great need of much money; 
as he generally had furnished dwelling, wood, and a certain amount 
of grain. The cash payments from the general treasury vary 
greatly. In Zahna (1528) the amount is 22 florins 16 groschens; 
in Grimma (1529) 14 fl. 19 gr.; in Herzberg (1529) 10 gr. from 



80 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

the council and 3 fl. from the treasury; in Schoningen (1542) 12 
guldens; in Wittenberg (1555) 6 gr.; in Pretzsch (1555) 10 fl.; in 
Willstatt (1563) 40 fl.; in Brunswick (1570) 40 fl. Accepting 
Burkhardt's estimate that one florin is equivalent to about six- 
teen marks, we may reckon a cash income of twenty florins as 
equal to a present income of three hundred twenty marks. The 
grain equivalent of fifteen groschen according to the record for 
Zahna (1534) is five bushels; but the kind of grain is not stated. 
It is probably rye; as that is almost always mentioned when the 
general term "grain" is not used. There is no possibility of 
ascertaining the exact amount received in tuition fees. One 
groschen per pupil per quarter is a very general requirement. 
Reckoning twenty groschen to the gulden we find that for every 
five pupils the teacher receives one gulden annually, — that is a 
grain equivalent of almost seven bushels, certainly not an exces- 
sive amount. Various fees from other sources added a little to the 
amount received from tuition. The fee for a funeral varied from 
four pfennigs to about twenty. For weddings about the same 
amount was given. For ringing the church bell, an addition of 
a few groschen was made. The total amount in the best places 
could not have amounted to more than about fifty florins, gener- 
ally not more than forty. 

Latin Schools. The amount of salary received by the various 
teachers in Latin schools can best be seen in a statement of sums 
paid in different towns at various times in the century. The 
master at St. Martin's in Brunswick (1528) received forty florins 
for the first year and fifty each year thereafter; while his assistant 
and the cantor received thirty florins each and a fourth associate 
had twenty. The rector at St. Catherine's (also Brunswick, 
1528) was granted thirty florins annually; his two associates had 
twenty florins each. In addition to this the children of the rich 
were to pay eight Mariengroschen each annually. "Thus a rich 
man can send his son to school ten years for the amount which he 
would pay a maid-servant for one year." (Vormbaum I: 13.) 
In Kemberg (1528) according to the Registraturen (Pallas I: 1: 
179): "The schoolmaster's salary shall be twenty-five florins; 
(increased to thirty in 1533); the cantor's twenty; each pupil 
shall give the schoolmaster one groschen quarterly and the cantor 
eight pfennigs." In Kemberg (1555) the schoolmaster has forty 



Economic Conditions of Teachers 81 

florins annually and twenty bushels of grain, together with tui- 
tion fees of one groschen quarterly from each pupil. He receives 
four cords of wood from the council and a stick of wood each 
morning from each pupil. In 1575 the salary is about the same; 
but the council gives an additional four cords of wood instead 
of what was formerly required of the pupils; and "eight bushels 
of grain from the general treasury" is added. (Pallas 1:1: 196.) 
In Wittenberg at the same time (Pallas 1 : 1 : 24) the schoolmaster 
has thirty florins annually with three groschens tuition from each 
pupil (one-third of this fee to go to his assistant); and three 
groschens for each funeral; the two assistants have twenty-five 
florins each; and the other assistant has twelve. The record of 
expenditures shows that the schoolmaster and two associates 
were paid in full. No mention is made of the third assistant. 
(Pallas I: 1:29.) 

In Wittenberg (1555) the schoolmaster has thirty florins in 
money and twenty in grain together with fees amounting to about 
twenty florins from pupils and about sixteen more from Christ- 
mas. The supremus has about nineteen florins with fees; the 
cantor, two florins less. The infimus has only fourteen florins 
with no fees. (Pallas I: 1: 36.) In 1575, we find the following 
record: "Pastor, 200 florins from the general treasury and 100 
fl. from the university; 50 bushels of grain and wood enough for 
his house. Schoolmaster, 40 fl. regular salary in addition to 25 
fl. which was formerly given to the physician (Physicus) inciden- 
tal fees in addition; from every poor boy 15 pfennige per quarter; 
from the others two groschen; amounts to about 72 fl. a year. 
From funerals six or four groschen, — about 18 florins a year; 
the Christmas celebrations amount to about 12 or 13 fl. The 
pastor makes a gift of 16 groschen. 24 bushels of grain from the 
general treasury. Supremus, 20 florins regular salary; 9 pfennige 
from each poor boy, and 1 groschen from each who is well-to-do, 
— amounting to eight or nine florins a year. Wedding music, 
2 groschen; funeral, 2 groschen; 8 groschen from the pastor." 
(Pallas I: 1: 47, 48.) In 1581, the salaries were about the same. 
(Pallas 1:1: 50.) Prettin (1528) gives the schoolmaster twenty 
florins annually from the general treasurj^ with ten florins from 
the council for work as town clerk and tuition of one groschen 
a quarter from each pupil. The assistant receives fifteen florins 



82 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

from the general treasury and the prebend (daily allowance at 
meals). The salaries were the same in 1534 although the school- 
master was relieved of the work of the town clerk's office and the 
assistant received a cash allowance of six florins instead of the 
prebend. (Pallas 3: 7, 9, 10.) Prettin in 1555 pays the school- 
master forty florins from the general treasury with fees from tu- 
ition and funerals additional. The cantor has twenty-five 
florins from the general treausry with twelve bushels of grain 
and half the tuition fees. He receives in addition six florins for 
services as sexton. In 1575 the rate of payment is the same; 
but the schoolmaster is given permission to brew "beer for his 
house." (Pallas 3: 15.) 

Bitterfeld (1531) gives the schoolmaster thirty-one florins 
from various sources, also a house and garden. There is an in- 
crease of six florins in 1533; but in 1555 the cash salary is only 
twenty-four florins with an enrollment fee of one groschen for 
each pupil from outside. A garden and eight cords of wood 
are also part of the total available for maintenance. In 1575, 
this allowance remains unchanged. In 1592, under a new ar- 
rangement the schoolmaster has ten florins and thirty-six bushels 
of grain. (Pallas I: 2: 7.) Altstadt Brandenburg makes the 
following allowances for 1541 and 1575 respectively: school- 
master, sixty and sixty-four guldens; first assistant, thirty and 
thirty-six; second assistant, twenty and twenty-five. (Sehling 
3: 179, 186.) Seesen (1542) pays the schoolmaster thirty florins 
and tuition fees while the pastor receives sixty florins. (Kay- 
ser, 94.) Helmstedt (1542) has the following schedule of sala- 
ries: Superintendent, one hundred guldens; chaplain, sixty; 
total amount is ten morgens, — about seven acres. (Kayser, 
344) Miinden (1542) gives the pastor seventy guldens, the 
schoolmaster thirty guldens, and his assistant twenty. Alfeld 
in the same year pays forty and thirty guldens to schoolmaster 
and assistant respectively; while the pastor's salary is one hun- 
dred guldens. (Kayser, 274, 711.) 

An exceptionally high salary list is found in Berlin, 1574. It 
is as follows: Rector, 110 florins and one wispel of rye (about 
thirty-six bushels) ; associate rector, ninety florins with one wispel 
of rye; the master, sixty florins with the same allowance of grain; 
cantor, fifty florins and rye; baccalaureus, forty florins and rye; 



Economic Conditions of Teachers 83 

under-cantor, thirty-six florins and one wispel of rye; second bac- 
calaureus, twenty-eight florins and eight bushels of rye; infimus, 
twenty-four florins and eight bushels of rye. In the cases of rec- 
tor, master, cantor, and baccalaureus, there was an allowance of 
beer also. (Sehling 3: 427.) Altstadt Salzwedel (1579) also has 
quite a liberal scale of payments : rector, ninety guldens ; associate 
rector, forty-eight; cantor, forty; baccalaureus, thirty-two; in- 
fimus, twenty. Neustadt Salzwedel in the same year has a lower 
schedule: rector, eighty-four guldens; associate rector, thirty- 
four; cantor, thirty; baccalaureus, twenty-four; infimus, six with 
additions for work as sexton. (Sehling 3: 278, 293.) In the 
Stephaneum at Ascherleben (1589) the rector receives forty reichs- 
thaler,^ with an additional fifteen as a recompense for the lack of 
fees from poor students and two thaler as money for wood. He 
also receives small fees from tuition and funerals. The associate 
rector receives seventy-five reichsthaler with a little more than 
one thaler for wood. The rector and his associate each has one 
hide of land. The salaries of the cantor, fourth, fifth, sixth, and 
seventh assistants are as follows: forty-five, thirty-six, thirty, 
twenty-five, and twenty-five thaler. (Mertz, 630.) 

In practically all of the foregoing cases it is to be understood 
that the teachers have their dwellings furnished. 

It is interesting to see how the salary of a rector compares with 
that of the pastor in the same place. In the few places where 
it is possible to make a direct comparison we find that the school- 
master receives but little more than half as much as his spiritual 
colleague. Thus in Seesen (1542) the pastor receives sixty 
guldens while the schoolmaster receives only thirty and tuition 
fees. In Helmstedt (1542) the pastor (superintendent) receives 
one hundred guldens and the rector sixty. In Alfeld (1542) 
there is a greater difference, the schoolmaster receiving only forty 
guldens to the pastor's one hundred. In Miinden (1542) the 
alaries are seventy and thirty gulden. In Wittenberg (1575) the 
pastor receives two hundred florins from the general treasury with 
one hundred additional from the university; while the school- 
master has a regular salary of sixty-five florins with fees amount- 
ing to about one hundred florins. The teacher thus receives 
about forty per cent less than the pastor. 



^ A thaler equals IK to IM florins. 



84 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

Administration of Means of Support 

From the excerpts given from the records it is apparent that 
the general control of the funds which ultimately reached the 
teacher was in the hands of the churches. Onl}'^ in rather rare 
instances do we find a contribution from the civil authorities. In 
a general way the state seems to have been content to let the 
church look after the matters of finance, permitting the body 
which had the responsibility of raising funds to administer them 
with little or no interference. It is entirely outside our field here 
to inquire into the general system of administering church fi- 
nances; we may however properly investigate the methods of 
collecting tuition fees, — a work with which the teacher had a very 
intimate connection. 

Almost without exception it is provided in the regulations that 
tuition fees are to be paid quarterly, the ember days in each of 
the four seasons of the year being the times usually designated. 
So common was this custom that the expression "quarterly em- 
ber money" (Quatembergeld) is synonymous with tuition fees. 
Parents were not always prompt in the payment of this money; 
and the schoolmaster did not always have a direct means of com- 
pelling them. A very unbusinesslike manner of treating the whole 
matter is shown in the Kirchenordnung of Hamburg (1529). "If 
any parents are so unjust (lacking in conscience) as to refuse 
twice to pay for their children, the rector is to have them ad- 
monished in a friendl}'^ manner by the superior deacon of the par- 
ish in which they reside. If after this they will not pay, no 
trouble is to be stirred up over the matter." (Vormbaum I: 23.) 
In the records for Kemberg (1555), it is stated that when par- 
ents do not furnish the required amount of wood for heating the 
school ("a stick a day for each pupil") "the teacher shall immedi- 
ately report such ungrateful people to the Biirgermeister who shall 
see to it that the required amount of wood is furnished by every 
person whose son attends the school. In like manner the teacher 
is to report to the Biirgermeister the names of parents who are not 
prompt in the payment of tuition fees in order that they may be 
held to their duty by the authorities." (Pallas I: 1: 188.) In 
Jessen in the same year it is required that the Biirgermeister be 
given a list of those who do not pay within fourteen days after 
the appointed time. He is to punish the dilatory to the end that 



Economic Conditions of Teachers 85 

"the schoolmaster may have the merited reward for his great 
labor." (Pallas 3: 320.) The Wiirttemberg Ordnung of 1559 
provides that "since there are people who will not willingly give 
the schoolmaster the money for tuition and other fees due him, 
the Inspectors and the magistrate" shall see that he receives 
what is justly his due. (Vormbaum I: 100.) The Nordhauser 
Schulordnung of 1583 requires that teachers shall be paid regu- 
larly and in full "at the proper times, courteously, without mur- 
muring, cursing, and harshness." (Vormbaum I: 369.) In 
this school the payment is not directly from parents to teachers; 
the chamberlain of the school has charge of financial matters and 
is charged with the payment of the employees of the school. The 
work of collection was not as yet reduced to a system. Very 
often apparently the pupils brought the tuition money to school 
and there gave it to the master. Sometimes one of the assistant 
teachers went from house to house and made collections. Such 
a case is that of Brunswick, 1528. (Vormbaum I: 13.) In Wit- 
tenberg (1581) the teachers were to have the assistance of a con- 
stable (Gerichtsknecht) when they could not collect their fees 
otherwise. (Pallas I: 1: 51.) 

Inspectors or superintendents were supposed to see that the 
teachers in their districts were properly supported; but they 
themselves had nothing to do directly with the collection and 
administering of funds for teachers' salaries. The Visitation 
Committees also made it part of their business to inquire into the 
efficiency with which the teacher's maintenance was supplied. 
As is indicated elsewhere a large part of the material furnished 
in the Registraturen is made up of reports of money paid or sup- 
plies given the teacher. Almost always a great deal more atten- 
tion is given to this matter than to the character of the teacher 
or to the effectiveness of his work. 

In the collection of fees special consideration was shown the 
poor. In some cases they were free from all charges; in others 
they were admitted at a reduced rate. In order that the teacher 
might not suffer from this arrangement, the town or parish some- 
times made a special grant to make up for what the poor were not 
able to pay. In Pretzsch (1555) tuition is one groschen a quarter 
"but the marshall pays for the poor," (Pallas I: 1: 262.) In 
Kemberg (1575) the poor are exempt from fees; but "to make 



86 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

up for this the nobility (die von Adel) and the well-to-do are to 
give a little more out of Christian benevolence." (Pallas I: 1: 
196.) 

The distribution of the money received from fees was generally 
in "geometrical ratio," that is, in parts proportional to the rank 
of the teachers. A few examples will illustrate this arrangement. 
The rector of St. Catherine's School in Brunswick received half 
of the fees while the rest was divided equally between his two 
assistants, "in order that there may be no dissension between the 
associates; for although the second assistant may not be as learned 
as the other, he has more children in his charge and does not do 
less work." (Vormbaum I: 13.) In Kemberg (1528) the rector 
receives two and a half times as much as his associate. (Pallas 
I: 1: 179); in Wittenberg twice as much (Pallas I: 1: 24); in 
Schmiedeberg, Kemberg, (1575) three and a third times as much 
(Pallas I: 1: 327). In Prettin (1528, the schoolmaster and his 
assistant divide the tuition fees equally. (Pallas 3: 9.) In 
practically every case the rector or schoolmaster receives by far 
the larger part of the fees just as he enjoys the larger salary 
and better living accommodations. The highest assistant re- 
ceived from one-half to four-fifths as much salary as the rector 
and one-third or one-half as much from tuition fees. 

Inadequacy of Support 

There is no lack of fair words on the necessity of giving teachers 
liberal maintenance. Melanchthon states the principle that the 
teacher shall have a salary, which, on account of the dangers of 
idleness and prodigality, is not to be too large, but which is to be 
sufficient, so that teachers shall not find it necessary to take work 
outside of school in order to provide for themselves and their own. 
(Corpus Reformatorum XI: 612.) The Kirchenordnungen are 
rich in expressions of good will toward teachers. The Ordnung 
of Hesse, 1526, states that the income of the teacher should be 
enough to make him entirely independent so that he can freely 
devote himself entirely to his calling. (Richter I: 68.) The 
makers of the Brunswick Ordnung, 1528, recognize the fact that 
efl&cient teachers can be secured only when adequate salaries 
are paid; and that the permanence of the profession depends in 
part at least upon proper maintenance of those who enter it. 



Economic Conditions of Teachers 87 

(Vormbaum I: 12.) "We will take pains to secure honorable 
and learned men for our schools, — not dishonorable and ignorant; 
consequently it is not fitting that we should regard them as beggars, 
but pay each according to his merits; since they have need of 
clothing, beds, books, and other things which sometimes cost 
more than food and drink. When teachers are too ill to earn their 
salary, they are not to be left in their distress, but are to be cared 
for." In Kemberg, 1528, the teachers were told that although 
their income then was inadequate, they were to rest assured that 
increases would come in the course of time. (Pallas I: 1: 301.) 
Similar examples might easily be multiplied; for there was no lack 
of good will apparent in the attitude of the Reformers toward the 
teaching class. 

How nearly adequate the salaries actually were can be seen from 
a few comparisons. In the first place we may use Luther's pro- 
posed schedule of salaries of a particular school. The school- 
master was to receive 200 guldens; his assistant, 100; the third, 
90; the fourth, 80; the fifth, 60; the sixth and seventh, 40 each; 
and the eighth, 30. (Mertz, 417.) From the examples given un- 
der the discussion of amount of income, it is apparent that this is 
a rate of payment not actually reached. The schoolmaster was 
much more likely to receive about what Luther seemed sufficient 
for a fourth or fifth assistant than the generous two hmidred 
guldens which stands at the beginning of the list. This compari- 
son is hardly fair perhaps since it balances actual income over 
against a scheme which was more ideal than practical. But the 
fact remains that Luther thought that a schedule of salaries 
ranging from thirty to two hundred guldens was needed, while 
by far the majority of teachers received salaries near the lower 
limit of the scale, or entirely beneath the lowest amount there 
fixed. 

The opinion of Melanchthon offers further evidence of the inade- 
quacy of the wages of teachers. In writing of "The Woes of 
Teachers," he says that the day laborer is better paid than the 
teacher, who can hardly still his hunger. Teachers go poor and 
miserable while book dealers, decked with gold, parade like 
satraps. Nikodemus Frischlin, who was installed as rector in 
Brunswick in 1588, makes the following comment upon conditions: 
"The men who pass the day in stench and noise of the schoolroom 



88 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

must in many cases go to homes where they have to drink the 
water of care and eat the bread of affliction. If comparisons 
were not odious, I might mention cities where the herder of swine 
or cattle receives better wages than the schoolmaster." (Mertz, 
417.) Adam Siber speaks in the same tone. " It never occurs to 
parents to hasten the payment of the teachers' wages or to make a 
voluntary gift in gratitude to the teacher that he may have some 
consolation for the misery he suffers. If eventually 2,000 ses- 
terces are granted you by the higher authorities, there is sure to 
be a Trico; and as he cunningly bars the way to the high Mae- 
cenas, he demands a share of the money. But the remainder it- 
self becomes yours after long waiting when repeated requests 
have forced it from the dilatory. Must one then not perish of 
hunger and misery ! One must ask assistance of friends and neigh- 
bors, knowing that old debts must be covered with new ones, 
as was formerly the case with Hayneccius, Schellnberg, and many 
others, — not to speak of myself, as people would probably wrinkle 
their noses maliciously at that." 

The records abound in complaints by teachers to the effect 
that they do not receive enough to enable them to live. It was 
not always that a sympathetic ear could be found. A striking 
example of this lack of sympathy is found in the case of the teacher 
in the girls' school at Prettin. After he had served for twelve 
years, he complained that his income was not sufficient and asked 
for the increase that had been promised. He was told "to keep 
still about it" and warned that if he carried the matter further 
he would be dismissed. (Pallas 3: 11.) 

With how little teachers were sometimes satisfied is shown in 
the records of Prettin, 1555, in which it is stated that the school- 
master and his assistant are satisfied with their salary, the one 
receiving forty florins, the other twenty-five. Another case of 
patience in tribulation is that of the schoolmaster in Schweinitz. 
Although he makes no complaint, the Visitation Committee re- 
ports that "he and his wife suffer hunger, and on account of his 
poverty he cannot buy books or clothing." (Pallas 3: 336.) 

All the evidence goes to show that the income of the teacher 
was almost universally miserably inadequate. The material 
cited to show what was actually received, the complaints of the 
teachers themselves, the opinions of men not immediately con- 



Economic Conditions of Teachers 89 

cemed in the work of teaching, the continual shifting of teachers 
to different places and other professions, all indicate clearly that 
there had not yet been developed a system by which teachers 
could receive suitable maintenance. 

Tendencies 

No very great changes are noticeable in the general trend of 
affairs coimected with the support of teachers during the sixteenth 
century. There is perhaps a slight tendency to pay higher salaries 
especially in the larger places; but the lot of the teacher toward 
the close of the century was practically as hard as it was in the 
earlier years. Throughout the whole period teachers complain 
of the lack of adequate support; and the records show that their 
cries for relief were justifiable. 

The sources of income vary somewhat, the tendency being in 
a general way toward a fixed salary from the general treasury as 
contrasted with the indefinite contribution of money and sup- 
plies from varied sources. There is a noticeable cutting off of the 
so-called accidentia in many places. The possibility of getting 
gain from outside activities is frowned upon more and more as 
unworthy of the profession. The good of the school is seen to 
demand that the teacher separate himself from such work as 
acting as town clerk or policeman and devote all his energies to 
the school. The result of this is seen in salary increases which are 
intended to offset the loss of income which accompanies the giv- 
ing up of the outside work. But the general result is no increase 
in the real income of the teacher. No change is noticeable in 
tuition as a source of revenue to the schoolmaster. The most im- 
portant change in sources of income is the very gradual transfer 
of the burden of support from the church to the state. Only the 
beginnings of this change appear however. 

In administration a similar difference begins to make itself 
felt in some places. The officers of the civil government are here 
and there charged with the collection of funds for the support 
of teachers. Further signs of progress in the administration of 
school finances are seen in the increasing definiteness of the 
teacher's salary and in the regularity of payment. 

The attitude of governing boards toward the support of teachers 
shows no appreciable change. At all times there seems to be 



90 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

a vague hope that the teacher will be well paid for his labors; 
but this feeling is joined with an unwillingness to subject him to 
the dangers of wealth when the securing of that wealth depends 
upon contributions from uncertain and unwilling sources. The 
end of the century does not give any evidence of higher apprecia- 
tion of the needs of the teacher than does the beginning. But 
that fact is not due to any lack of such appreciation at any time 
during this period. From the very first a keen sense of the need 
of adequate support was felt by the writers of Ordnungen and the 
founders of schools. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE TEACHER'S OFFICIAL AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 

One of the most important considerations in the matter of the 
teacher's place in society and his relations with the people and 
institutions of his community is discovered in the fact that his 
office had the most intimate connection with the work of the 
church. His was a holy service which was a part of the greater 
work of the newly organized Protestant church. That is to say, 
the place of the teacher was generally what it had been through 
the preceding centuries. That schools would be necessary even 
though there were no church and no religion was a well recog- 
nized fact, but this did not divorce the work of teaching from the 
general field of church activity. The church did exist; religious 
instruction was highly necessary; the school was a necessary in- 
strument in preserving the institution through training leaders 
and in giving a certain amount of elementary instruction in 
matters of religion. From these facts it is evident that the teacher 
stands as servant of the church, even though he may also serve 
the state. So close was this connection between the work of 
teaching and that of the ministry that in almost all the lower 
schools, the teacher was required to do a part of the work that 
might seem to be the special duty of the pastor, that of teaching 
the catechism and giving training in church music. In many 
places the schoolmaster or one of his assistants was required to 
accompany the pupils to church and supervise their conduct dur- 
ing the service. This is true of the Latin as well as of the German 
schools. A multitude of examples might be cited; but the single 
case of Wittenberg will suffice to show how closely the work of 
teaching was connected with the service of the church. ''On 
four days of the week the music of the church shall be supplied 
by the schoolmaster and his three associates, each being respon- 
sible for a day; as for example, the schoolmaster on Monday, 
the first associate on Tuesday, the cantor on Thursday, and the 



92 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

tertius on Friday. On the other day they shall all be in the 
church," (Pallas 1:1: 14.) As is shown elsewhere, the teacher 
is examined and certificated by representative of the church in 
most cases; his salary comes for the most part from church funds; 
his supervisors are almost all clergymen; and his standing in the 
community depends largely upon the fact that he is in reality 
an officer of the church. Furthermore, his work is regarded as 
a fitting preparation for any person who expects to become a 
pastor. Luther even goes so far as to say that a young man was 
hardly fit to enter the ministry until he had had some actual 
teaching experience. (Von den Konziliis.) The Brandenburg 
Visitations- und Consistorialordnung of 1573 gives special en- 
couragement to schoolmasters and associates who wish to enter 
the ministry.^ In Pomerania according to the Ordnung of 1563, 
only such men as expected to enter the ministry were to be made 
sextons. It is furthermore required that the sexton be able to 
teach the catechism, and, in the towns, to help in the schools. 
(Richter II : 245.) Hesse, 1566, makes it possible for the school- 
master (if he has studied theology) to pass the cup in the ad- 
ministration of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. (Richter 
II: 295.) 

While there may have been a tendency to destroy the half- 
clerical character of the teacher and make him a "poorly paid, 
slightly esteemed, submissive servant of a city or a small dis- 
trict" (Otto Kaemmel, Geschichte des Leipziger Schulwesens, 
36), the Ordnungen throughout the century show that it is still 
the wish of the church to have him regarded as one of her most 
important representatives. He is regarded as offering most 
promising material for the perpetuation of the ministry; and his 
work as a teacher of things secular does not take from him his 
function as teacher of things sacred. The process of transform- 
ing the school into a secular institution and the teacher into a 
state employee was only beginning. 

With Supervisory Authorities. Supervision 

The general relation which the teacher had to parish and to 
town, that is, to church and state, is given a definite and per- 

1 "If in the towns of our Electorate there are schoohnasters and associates 
who desire to fill such ofl&ces, they shall be given preference." (Richter II: 
361.) 



The Teacher's Official and Social Relations 93 

sonal form through the institution of a system of supervision. 
The highest and most remote kind of supervisory relationship 
is found in the work of the visitation committees, whose func- 
tions are described in the discussion of Kirchen- und Schulord- 
nungen. (Chapter I.) We are here concerned with the more 
immediate oversight exercised by certain local authorities. As 
may be inferred from the discussion of the teacher's relation to 
the church, the members of the clerg)"^ had a most important part 
in the supervision of the schools. The pastor was almost always 
required to act as supervisor of the school in his parish; while 
the superintendent likewise had laid upon him the duty of giving 
oversight to all the schools in his district. The Stralsund Ord- 
nung of 1525 requires that the pastors shall give to schools as 
careful oversight as they give their churches. (Vormbaum I: 
3.) Wittenberg, 1528, requires that the pastor give careful 
supervision to the girls' school and places upon the schoolmaster 
the duty of consulting him upon all questions concerning the 
school, the pastor's consent being necessary for anything which 
the teacher wishes to undertake. (Pallas I: 1: 13.) Bitterfeld, 
1531, demands that the schoolmaster shall give obedience to the 
pastor as his superior. (Pallas I: 2: 4.) Herzberg, 1533, pre- 
scribes that the pastor "shall visit the school twice a week in 
order to see that the teacher maintains good order and secures 
diligent work." (Pallas 3: 403.) Similar instructions are found 
in the Prussian Articles of 1540 (Richter I: 336), Kemberg, 1555, 
1578 (Pallas I: 1: 183), Pomerania, 1563 (Richter II: 234), Herz- 
berg, 1578 (Pallas 3: 434), and many others. 

Pastors and district superintendents were not the only super- 
visory officers. Mayors, councilmen, stewards of the church 
(Kastenhernn) , and even persons holding no ecclesiastical or 
civil office were required to give oversight to schools. Bruns- 
wick, 1528, gives this work into the hands of the superintendent 
(or preacher of highest rank in the district), his assistant, the 
stewards, and five councilmen from as many parts of the city. 
(Vormbaum I: 17.) In Pima, 1540, we find that "a member of 
the council shall be commissioned to have careful oversight of 
the school that it may be conducted strictly according to the 
regulations." (R. Hofman, in Beitrdge zur Sdchsischen Kir- 
chengeschichte, VIII: 96) In Prettin, 1555, the pastor and 



94 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

mayor share the duties of supervision. (Pallas 3: 19.) The 
pastor and two members of the council are made supervisors 
in Brandenburg, 1573. (Sehling, 3: 124.) The Superintendent, 
Biirgermeister and representatives from the council in Bitter- 
feld, 1575, form a kind of superior board of inspectors who add 
their efforts to those of the chaplain. (Pallas 1:2: 33.) In 
Herzberg, 1578, the deacons assist the pastor in the work of 
supervising the school. (Pallas 3: 434.) Inspection in Cott- 
bus, 1579, is in the hands of the Biirgermeister, the pastor, rep- 
resentatives from the council, and certain other persons whom 
the pastor chose at his pleasure. (Sehling 3: 200.) The super- 
vision of the Gymnasium in Nordhausen, 1583, is in the hands 
of men chosen by the council from the ministry and the council. 
They are to be of the orthodox faith according to the Augsburg 
Confession, to have a "scientific education," and to lead godly 
lives. (Vormbaum I: 362.) In Kemberg, 1598, it is required 
that the superintendent and two councilmen supervise the schools 
with diligence. (Pallas 1:1: 205.) From these citations it is 
evident that while there was no strict uniformity in the com- 
position of supervising boards, the clergy predominated; but 
that there was a growing tendency to have representatives of 
the civil government aid in the work. Lay supervisors were of 
course required to possess certain religious or ecclesiastical quali- 
fications in addition to their general fitness for the work. 

Purpose of Supervision. In a loose way the system of super- 
vision grew out of a desire for efficiency, not so much efficiency 
of instruction in the secular branches as orthodoxy and thorough- 
ness in matters of doctrine. The school regulations were gener- 
ally a part of the Kirchenordnung and the proper administration 
of the system to be established depended in a very large measure 
upon the careful supervision of the work of the teachers. The 
effective enforcement of the rules prescribed in the regulations 
seemed the only sure way to secure that purity of faith which 
the Reformers desired. This statement does not mean that no 
attention was paid to the secular instruction given in the schools; 
but the demands of the Ordnungen and the fact that most of the 
supervisors were clergymen necessarily placed the emphasis upon 
the matters of religious instruction and the orthodoxy of the 
teacher. From a more restricted viewpoint, the work of in- 



The Teacher's Official and Social Relations 95 

spection was intended to incite both teachers and pupils to greater 
diligence and better work. So prominent does this purpose 
sometimes become that supervision is reinforced by prizegiving 
by the inspectors or by the town or parish.^ 

Nature of Supervisory Work. As the general theory of school 
supervision was almost entirely embraced in the idea of making 
the school the effective instrument of the church, it is but natural 
that the matters pointed out for the especial care of the inspec- 
tors should tend quite directly toward that end. It is provided 
in the Stralsund Ordnung of 1525 that the pastor shall see that 
the teacher in the Latin school gives proper religious instruction. 
No further supervisory duties are mentioned. (Vormbaum I: 
1.) Zahna, 1528, makes it the duty of pastor and council to see 
that the schoolmaster has a copy of the Saxony School Plan and 
that he follows it closely. (Pallas I: 1: 367.) The duty of the 
inspectors in Brunswick, 1528, as prescribed in the Schulordnung 
is likewise to see that the teacher follows the regulations. (Vorm- 
baum I: 17.) Pirna, 1540, has a similar regulation. In Prettin, 
1555, examining the pupils is added to the mere visiting of the 
school. (Pallas 3: 19.) The Saxon Visitation of 1569 followed 
a list of memorabilia among which were the following: "Is there 
a school? And is the schoolmaster capable? How and in what 
the youth are instructed. Whether or not the pastor is a suit- 
able inspector and sees that the children are learning." (Seh- 
ling I: 1: 246.) The Brandenburg Ordnung of 1573 requires 
that the pastor, two members of the council, and two other 
persons from the parish not only visit the school but also examine 
the boys and give special attention to the work of Christian doc- 
trine and church songs. (Sehling 3: 124.) In Bitterfeld, 1575, 
the inspectors are required to "visit the school monthly and 
confer in a friendly manner with the schoolrhaster. " (Pallas 
1:2: 33.) An exceptionally zealous inspector in Herzberg, 1578, 
discovers evidence of "soft pedagogy" in the school. It is his 
opinion that the schoolmaster must be required to give more 
diligence to the teaching of grammar, especially the fundamentals ; 
"for he wants to make nothing but poets out of his pupils." 

* For example, Prettin, 1555. Prizes of money or something to eat were 
given to pupils who answered well and showed progress "in order that teachers 
may work the more diligently and pupils the more eagerly." Pallas 3: 19. 



96 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

(Pallas 3 : 434.) This shows that the work of inspection was not 
wholly devoted to matters of religion. The extent to which 
supervision of the teacher could be carried is shown in the follow- 
ing report from Prettin, 1581. The teachers of this school were 
censured because they spent time in dining out to the detriment 
of the school; because they gave more attention to their fields 
than to their duties as teachers ; because they took a great number 
of private pupils but neglected the poor "who were not able to 
fill their hands." (Pallas 3: 32.) The best statement of the 
scope of supervision is that found in the regulations for the 
Gymnasium in Nordhausen, 1583. The inspectors in this school 
were much more than mere supervisors; they were actual admin- 
istrators of the affairs of the institution. Each inspector has a 
book in which he keeps a record of the affairs of the school, such 
as lists of pupils and teachers, salaries of teachers, statement of 
punishments inflicted with reasons for the same. On the first 
day of each month the inspectors hold a conference at which 
they discuss the problems of the school. Each inspector accord- 
ing to his turn takes the work of supervising the school. He is 
required to visit classes diligently and at varying hours; to re- 
main for some time and listen to what is going on so that he may 
know the character of the work of teachers and pupils. Faults 
and weaknesses are to be reported privately by the inspector 
to the rector. If there is no improvement, the inspector is to 
see the offender personally, and if he does not then improve, 
report him to the other inspectors. Any member of this super- 
visory board is free to visit the school at any time, even though 
it is not his month for duty. (Vormbaum I: 367, 368.) The 
records of Kemberg, 1598, show that in addition to the regular 
inspection, examinations are held twice a year by the super- 
visors. (Pallas I: 1: 205.) 

Attitude toward Superiors. It is clear then that the teacher 
had most vital relations with a larger or smaller group of super- 
visors who held him to his work not only by friendly visits and 
courteous conferences but much more by examining his pupils 
and making sure that he was giving them the desired kind of 
instruction with thoroughness. While the teacher's success and 
his ability to keep his position are measured to a degree by his 
ability to satisfy the demands of his supervisors, the records do 



The Teacher's Official and Social Relations 97 

not show that this burden bore very heavily upon him. The chap- 
ter on Appointment and Tenure shows that there were in reaUty 
very few dismissals, a fact which cannot be attributed wholly to 
the excellence of teachers or to the complacence of boards of 
supervisors. But the relations which existed between the two 
did not ordinarily give rise to much friction, at least not to enough 
to make it necessary to dismiss the teacher. 

That the teacher's attitude toward his superiors was not al- 
ways one of respect and cheerful obedience is sho^vn by occasional 
entries in the records which give indication of friction, lack of 
harmony, and occasionally insubordiantion. The Prussian Ar- 
ticles of 1540 report that it has been learned that "chaplains, 
sextons, and schoolmasters in more places than one" have op- 
posed the pastor and have set his people against him. They 
are warned to conduct themselves toward the pastor in no way 
other than that which is fitting and proper. In like manner, the 
pastor is charged to treat the men under his supervision in a kind, 
friendly and Christian manner. (Richter I: 336.) In the district 
of Bitterfeld and Grafenhainichen, 1555, while there was a gen- 
eral condition of harmony, it was found necessary to censure one 
schoolmaster and charge him very rigorously that he was to be 
subject to the supervision and direction of his pastor in all affairs 
pertaining to his work of teaching upon penalty of dismissal for 
further insubordination. It appears that this teacher had been 
chosen by the council without the consent of the pastor and had 
been encouraged in his opposition to supervision. It is also true 
that the pastor too had to be admonished to treat the school- 
master with kindness so that their relations might result in such 
conditions as would be to the advantage of the children in the 
parish. (Schmidt, Ref. Gesch. 90: 51.) The Pomeranian Ord- 
nung of 1563 charges pastors to conduct themselves according 
to the law of Christ, "The greatest is the servant of all." As- 
sociates are warned not to oppose the pastor nor create dissen- 
sion. The same rule applies to school affairs. The chief burden 
of maintaining friendly relations falls upon the pastor; and it is 
his duty to try to heal dissensions. Where he is unable to do 
this by friendly and brotherly dealing, the superintendent of 
the district is to settle the matter. (Richter II : 234.) 

There seems to be no good ground for believing that there was 



98 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

much friction between the teachers and their supervisors. The 
Registraturen show only rare cases in which it is necessary for 
the visitation committees to make any report whatever upon 
the matter. Silence in such cases may be considered as mean- 
ing that there was no breach of importance between the school- 
masters or assistants and the superintendents or inspectors; for 
where any rupture does occur it is the duty of the visitation 
committee to take the matter up and see that it is settled at 
once. Consequently when only a very few cases are reported 
in records which cover hundreds of cases, it may justly be in- 
ferred that the attitude of the teacher to his superiors was at 
least not positively hostile, even though it is not reasonable to 
interpret the lack of definite statements as meaning a feeling of 
friendliness and complete harmony. In this connection it is il- 
luminating although not conclusive to note that in the Alman- 
sor of Hayneccius, which purports to be a mirror of the school 
a relation of friendliness and helpfulness exists between Paulus, 
the overseer of the church and school, and Nathan, the school- 
master. Both are represented as working together most har- 
moniously for the good of the school and the Commonwealth of 
Christ. Even Adam Siber in his long poem of complaint has 
nothing to offer against the men who act as inspectors. 

Except where matters of a purely personal nature interfered, 
the teacher had many reasons to maintian friendly relations 
with the pastor or district superintendent who supervised his 
work. The latter was charged with the duty of increasing the 
friendliness of parents toward the school and the teacher; he was, 
in theory at least, a means of protecting the schoolmaster against 
unjust dealing in all matters relating to his support. It was 
his place to encourage the teacher in the trials of his position 
and inspire him to the high grade of work which the needs of 
church and state demanded. On the other hand, the pastor 
held a position which the teacher himself often would have liked 
to fill. The kind of supervision given did not always reach the 
ideal which was set in the ordinances ; and inspection often meant 
little more than mere visiting of the school, while it sometimes 
meant destructive criticism instead of helpfulness. Since the 
attitude of teacher to supervisor is quite as much a matter of 
personality as of professional spirit, acceptance of a necessary 



The Teacher's Official and Social Relations 99 

relationship, or impersonal considerations of ends to be gained, 
it is probable that the teachers of the sixteenth century were not 
greatly different from their successors of today. 

Relations among Teachers. If certain passages in the Ord- 
nungen may be regarded as limiting by prescription conditions 
which were in actual existence, it seems that teachers were not 
always able to associate together in amity. In the chapter on 
the Economic Conditions of Teachers, the case of Breslau has 
already been cited as showing the confusion and discord which 
grew out of the struggle to secure pupils for private instruction, 
(p. 74.) In the Augsburg Ordnung of 1575, the following re- 
strictions throw some light upon the needs for regulating the re- 
lations of teachers among themselves. "No schoolmaster shall 
directly or indirectly entice a pupil from another schoolmaster 
to himself and his school under penalty of a fine of one gulden. 
. . . No teacher shall receive into his school a pupil coming 
from another if the pupil has not paid his former teacher all due 
fees." (Fischer, 81, 82.) These two restrictions are very evidently 
intended to decrease the amount of friction among teachers by 
removing one of the grounds of contention, rivalry for patron- 
age being frequently the cause of ill-feeling. And with this is a 
corresponding regulation which tends to prevent pupils from 
running from one school to another without paying what is due 
the instructor. The Stralsund ordinance of 1561 insists that 
teachers in the Latin and German schools shall live together 
without friction. Everyone is to take heed not to give any cause 
of offence through bickerings, quarreling, or strife of any kind. 
This is said to be one of the most stringent regulations of the 
council. (Vormbaum I: 484) The Visitation Committee in 
Prettin, 1555, demands that the employees of the school shall 
"perform the duties of their office faithfully, lead blameless 
lives, and conduct themselves with one another in a friendly and 
brotherly manner." (Pallas 3: 11.) 

Adam Siber's dismal picture of the school conditions of his 
time makes it appear that the rector is in a constant state of 
tension on account of the fact that he has to try to secure faith- 
ful work from assistants who are not deeply interested in their 
work. The subordinates are depicted as working at cross pur- 
poses with the head of the school, caring little for his authority 



100 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

and even less for harmony in the institution. While this por- 
trayal is not conclusive, it shows the attitude of an eminent 
teacher toward his fellow-workers after a life-long period of 
service in the schools. 

There is little direct evidence in the records in the form of 
actual statements of quarrels and bickerings. Only rarely do 
we find such a statement as that in the report of the Visitation 
des gehirgischen Kreises (1598-1599), in which it is recorded that 
the schoolmaster and cantor in Frauenstein had had a fight 
"coram coetu scholastico." (E. Gehmlich, Stddtische Latein- 
schulen, p. 37.) 

Upon the basis of the evidence available then we can hardly 
conclude that the relations of teachers among themselves were 
very different from what they are today. The picture of teachers 
in a condition of discord among themselves on account of rivalry 
in securing students can easily be paralleled in the present. 
Lack of harmony between the head of a school and his assistants 
is probably just as common today as it was in the sixteenth cen- 
tury. Even in large modern school systems and in associations 
of teachers, national in scope, bitterness of feeling is by no means 
uncommon. And even personal violence as the outgrowth of 
friction is not today unknown. 

Relations with Parents. How the teacher felt toward the 
parents of his pupils may be inferred from the expressions of 
Adam Siber. He speaks of the parent who, having an evil 
disposition, is not able to punish his son enough; and consequently 
blames the teacher for not following his example, calling him 
neglectful and lazy. Parents are also deceived in regard to the 
capacities of their children and as a result of this blame the 
teacher for not accomplishing the impossible. This evil is in- 
creased by the presence of an occasional "black Hindoo Alman- 
sor" who claims that he can fill the boys with the arts along 
with their soup. Siber complains that parents desire to see their 
sons filled with the treasures of wisdom, but that it never occurs 
to them to hasten the payment of the teacher's wages or to make 
a voluntary gift in gratitude to the teacher that he may have some 
consolation for the misery that he suffers. Further than this, 
many parents make the lot of the teacher the harder by saying 
before their sons that learning is of no use, that it is enough if 



The Teacher's Official and Social Relations 101 

one can read and write a little. They set a bad example for their 
children by "swearing, making wicked jests, eating and drink- 
ing immoderately at an overladen table, and wearing such clothes 
as even the devil himself would not wear." 

That the picture drawn by Siber is not fanciful is shown by 
frequent complaints in the records. A single example of the 
lack of harmony between teachers and parents will suffice. 
The people in Bitterfeld, 1598, complained of the teacher that 
he had "laid the school waste." To this he repUed that he was 
not paid enough to live, that the people themselves were to 
blame for the condition of the school, for they sent their children 
to school only in the winter but in the spring and summer kept 
them out to herd swine, cows, or geese. (Pallas 1:2: 41, 42.) 

Hayneccius in his Almansor gives pictures of relations both 
friendly and hostile. Some of the parents in the play are in 
thorough sympathy with the teacher and do all they can to make 
his work pleasant and successful; while others are decidedly 
antagonistic even though the welfare of their own children de- 
pends upon the excellence of the school. Anna and Rebecca, 
two mothers who appreciate the difficulties of the teacher's life, 
are represented as speaking thus: 

Anna — Without a doubt it is true that the teachers in the school are much 
plagued by many a mother's child, with many a head that finds it hard to 
learn. 

Rebecca — You speak the truth and stir my sympathy for the pious man. 

Anna — It is fitting that we be charitable toward him. 

Rebecca — He is truly a pious man; and his faithful service is more than 
we can ever compensate with money. 

{Almansor I: 2: 265-277) 

In contrast with this attitude stand Jesabel and Penina who 
are represented as being so hostile to the teacher that they can- 
not endure the sight of him. To them he is " an abominable 
beggar" who abuses the pupils in his care. Zipora, another 
mother who has a son in school, calls teachers "the murderers 
of children." (IV: 6.) 

As is shown in the chapter on the support of teachers, a large 
part of the schoolmaster's income depended upon the generosity 
of parents. Consequently it was very directly to the interest 
of the teacher to make himself as popular as possible. The 



102 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

various expressions of dissatisfaction which occur from time to 
time show that this force was not sufficient to secure such re- 
sults as the teacher felt were desirable. The outcome was nat- 
urally friction. Since such a condition is more likely to demand 
attention upon the part of visitation committees and conse- 
quently to be recorded, it is not just to infer that even a great 
many such cases mean that there was a general state of hostility 
between teachers and parents. It is more reasonable to infer 
that the many cases where no such record appears mean that 
there was a fairly satisfactory state of amity. 

Relations in the Social Life of the Community. The assump- 
tion that the teaching class, standing next the clergy in the social 
structure, held a uniformly high place in the community is hardly 
to be borne out by the facts; for, in spite of the general esteem 
in which the work of teaching was held by the leaders of the 
Reformation, the condition of the teacher was disgracefully low, 
even as Luther himself says. As an example of a place where 
the teaching class is given a high rank we may cite Hamburg. 
Fischer {Geschichte des deutschen Volksschullehrerstandes, p. 
69) states that upon the occasion of a new arrangement in re- 
gard to dress, four classes were formed. To the first class be- 
longed councillors, men with degrees, and all who held eminent 
offices in the administration together with capitalists and mer- 
chants. Pastors, rectors, and school ofiicers were graciously ad- 
mitted to the first class; but they were to show proper humility 
in matters of dress and adornment. Their wives and children 
were of the third class together with traders, dealers in wine, her- 
ring, etc. In contrast with this we may place the many examples 
of teachers who were compelled to earn a livelihood by resorting 
to the lowliest kinds of employment, such as selling liquors, 
cobbling, and doing odd jobs. In the social life of the community 
the teacher often took a prominent place. As is shown in the 
chapter on support, he is a regular guest at weddings, helping 
furnish music and sharing in the feast and festivities. So en- 
thusiastically did he enter into the spirit of such occasions that 
it was necessary to make regulations restricting his participa- 
tion. So keen was his appreciation of the hospitality offered 
that he was likely to be the first to arrive and the last to leave, 
the time of departure being determined by the amount of re- 



The Teacher's Official and Social Relations 103 

freshments available. At funerals also the schoolmaster was 
generally in attendance, his duty being to furnish the music for 
the occasion. Inns and beer-houses seem to have been familiar 
with his presence. This was especially true in the case of young 
unmarried men. Occasional complaints are found which show 
that many of the teachers were of a decidedly convivial nature. 
In Prettin, 1581, the teachers were censured because they went 
out too often to attend festivities with other men of the commu- 
nity; but they replied that such an occurrence was very rare, 
happening not oftener than once a year. Other details in re- 
gard to the same matters are to be found in the chapter on Char- 
acter of Teachers. 



CHAPTER VII 

THE TEACHER'S ATTITUDE TOWARD HIS 
' PROFESSION 

The teacher's attitude toward his profession may be determ- 
ined in the following ways: first, by his own statements of his 
sentiments; second, by the evidence offered by his conduct; 
third, by the estimate which his contemporaries give in regard 
to his attitude and his work. No single source is conclusive in 
itself; but a combination of the three furnishes a safe basis for a 
just estimate of the conditions. There is a temptation for the 
teacher to state his attitude as what it ought to be, rather than 
as what it really is. His conduct furnishes a means of checking 
up his mere statement. Other persons are likely to have a bet- 
ter perspective; but their judgment is largely affected by per- 
sonal bias. After due allowance is made for the distortion, the 
estimate of the teacher's contemporaries is of considerable value, 
both in judging his work and in giving the proper interpretation 
to the bearing of his conduct upon his real attitude toward his 
work. This is especially true when the material in question is 
in the form of requirements concerning the teacher's personal 
or professional life, the evidence here being given indirectly 
without being primarily an attempt to show the teacher's atti- 
tude toward his work. 

The sources of the sixteenth century show no lack of expres- 
sions of the esteem in which the work of teaching was held. 
Luther in Ein Sermon oder Predigt dass man solle Kinder zur 
Schule halten, says, "If I could leave the ministry, or if I had 
to leave it, I would prefer no office to that of schoolmaster or 
teacher of boys; for I realize that next to the office of preaching, 
it is the most useful, the greatest and the best. Indeed I hardly 
know which of the two is the better. It is hard to make old 
dogs docile or old rogues pious, — a work to which the ministry 
devotes itself, often in vain. But one can better train young 



The Teacher's Attitude Toward His Profession 105 

plants, although sometimes even they are broken. It ought to 
be considered one of the highest earthly virtues to train the 
children of others; although few do as much for their own." 

Bugenhagen, in a letter written in 1526, says: "Two classes 
of men, teachers and magistrates, are the most eminent on earth, 
not on account of their own persons, for they are only poor mor- 
tals like others, but on account of their office, which God has 
given them in His stead." (Merz, 403.) 

Melanchthon shows the same appreciation of the teacher's 
work. In his de Platone (1538) he expresses the following 
views: "I know not of what opinion others may be, but for my- 
self I can boast that I view with the greatest satisfaction these 
our incorporations of schools. For it is a source of joy to see 
these supports of the state. " In 1542 he writes to Sturm in Strass- 
burg: "What is more profitable, or, I may add, more praise- 
worthy, than to fill the hearts of the youth with the sav- 
ing knowledge of God, of the nature of things, and with good 
morals?" 

The Kirchenordnungen contain similar expressions of the at- 
titude of men in authority toward the work of teaching, an at- 
titude which they presumably hoped or expected to develop 
in teachers where it did not already largely exist. The Saxon 
Visitation Articles of 1528 seek to impress upon teachers the 
fact that their work is of the utmost importance, that without 
it the church would languish and the state would decay. The 
Brunswick Ordnung of 1528 likewise emphasises the importance 
of the work of teaching in its bearing upon church and state. 
Not only does that work train those persons who are later to 
conduct the affairs of the political and ecclesiastical organiza- 
tions, but it also ensures the development of "efficient, honest, 
honorable, obedient, kindly, learned, peaceable" citizens. (Vorm- 
baum I: 10.) Hanover, 1536, insists that the teacher regard 
his work as a sacred trust, avoiding the teaching of error as 
though it were blasphemy. Brandenburg, 1540, holds that the 
work of teaching is an essential in the maintenance of the Chris- 
tian religion and of the state, the work of teaching thus being 
regarded as one of the foundations of society. The Wiirttem- 
berg Ordnung of 1559 provides for the maintenance of "schools 
and capable instructors" upon the same ground: "since the ad- 



106 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

ministration of offices of the sacred ministry, of civil affairs, and 
of temporal matters demands well-trained, wise, learned, skil- 
ful, and god-fearing men." (Vormbaum I: 68.) The Prussian 
Bischofswahl of 1568 holds up the following ideal of the teacher's 
work: "Schoolmasters are the fathers of all the prophets; for 
the latter have all been discipuU and have learned of their teach- 
ers and schoolmasters." (Richter II: 303.) 

In the Schulordnung of Mecklenburg, 1552, the entire con- 
ception of the importance of the work of the teacher is based 
upon religious grounds. "God, the Almighty, out of his great 
compassion toward man and for the sake of His dear Son, has 
revealed himself through faithful witnesses and has given gra- 
cious promises, and has had these his revelations and his teach- 
ings which were given through the prophets and apostles ex- 
pressed in certain writings. He Himself wrote the Ten Com- 
mandments on tables of stone and gave commandment that 
the books of the prophets and apostles should be read and 
learned. . . . Since it is from these books that doctrine is to be 
learned, it is highly necessary that there be those who can read. 
And whoever is to teach others must himself be familiar with 
the entire substance of the doctrine and must know where and 
how all the articles in the Holy Scriptures support and explain 
one another. In order that there be certainty in the interpreta- 
tion of the Holy Scriptures, there must be many who under- 
stand the language of the prophets and apostles and who can 
give information and testimony from their thorough under- 
standing. In a word, whoever is to teach others properly must 
be prepared through the arts which are of service in that work. 
It is expressly commanded in I Timothy, chapter four, 'Give 
attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine,' a passage 
which, not without purpose, mentions reading first, for the Gos- 
pel is very different from all other knowledge, religion, and 
sects. Other knowledge, such as computation and measuring, 
would be developed by the natural understanding of man, even 
though they were not found in the Scripture. But the divine 
promise of grace is not a light that is born in us, as is computa- 
tion or law; but it is the wonderful counsel of God, above and 
beyond the understanding of all creatures, given by special rev- 
elation, set down in the Scriptures by the prophets and apostles. 



I 



The Teacher's Attitude Toward His Profession 107 

Consequently reading is the beginning of Christian doctrine. 
In the first chapter of II Peter it is written, 'a more sure word 
of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed.' From 
these and many other passages it is evident that it is God's will 
that there be men who shall teach others reading, writing, the 
languages, and arts. . . . God also provided that there should 
be schools in connection with the most eminent churches, such 
as the tabernacle in Israel, the churches of Antioch, Alexandria, 
etc. The Apostle John was himself a reader as were also Poly- 
carp, Irenaeus, and others." (Vormbaum I: 59, 60.) 

From these and many similar passages in the Kirchenordnungen 
and Schulordnungen, it is clear that the makers of the regulations 
for Protestant schools made a definite effort to give to all, teach- 
ers and patrons alike, a high respect for the work of the school. 
The teacher was thus taught to regard his work as absolutely 
essential to the success of the church and the prosperity of the 
state. From a certain point of view he was superior even to the 
members of the clergy, they having been his pupils. In what- 
ever way his work was viewed, he was encouraged to believe that 
he was rendering a service which was not only of the utmost im- 
portance but also of a worth beyond the possibility of adequate 
earthly reward. In contrast with these passages which show a 
tendency to give the teacher a very high regard for his profession, 
we find other material in the Ordyiungen signifying that the atti- 
tude which actually existed was not always as indicative of a high 
conception as might be expected from the views of the leaders 
The material in the chapter on Economic Conditions, show- 
ing how teachers were deprived of the privilege of carrying on 
questionable occupation, shows that many teachers did not have 
so high a conception of their calling that they felt deterred from 
engaging in the manufacture and sale of beer, wine, and brandy. 
Whatever the general attitude toward these occupations was at 
the time, they were regarded as being of such a nature as to make 
them unfit for teachers. That teachers persisted in engaging 
in them in spite of this attitude shows that the force of necessity 
developed a conception of the work of the school which was 
quite distinctly lower than that set forth in the Ordnungen 
and in the writings of the Reformation leaders. Restrictions 
against runaway teachers is further evidence that a number 



108 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

large enough to attract attention failed to esteem their calling 
so sacred that they were irrevocably bound to remain in their 
respective positions subject to the restrictions of the work and 
its environment. Passages which are aimed against the prac- 
tice of wasting time in trivialities likewise show that the con- 
ception of the work of teaching as a sacred calling did not make 
itself felt enough to prevent the growth of such an abuse of time. 
These passages are probably as much a reflection upon the nature 
of the material for study as upon the attitude of the teacher to- 
ward his work. So much of the subject matter was trivial that 
the teacher might justly have been accused of wasting time in 
trivialities even when he was doing his best to follow out the 
plan laid down for his guidance. 

How teachers themselves actually felt toward their work and 
how they voiced that feeling are matters concerning which 
scanty records remain. Very few of the teachers in the second- 
ary and elementary schools were writers. Consequently there is 
not much to show directly how they looked upon their profes- 
sion. However, Adam Siber, one of the most faithful and most 
eminent of sixteenth century teachers, for many years rector in 
Grimma, has left a detailed picture of the attitude which the 
teacher had toward his work and surroundings. In a work of 
almost three hundred hexameter lines, he pours out the feelings 
generated by a life-time of slightly appreciated service. The 
lines must be read with the understanding that they were written 
at a time when Siber was having great difficulties in his school. 
In spite of the gloomy picture he was appreciated by some of 
his students and patrons; and some of his pupils (nine hundred 
entered Grimma between 1550 and 1584) brought honor to the 
school by their upright service in church and state. Siber's 
jeremiad begins in the following manner: 

Woes of a life filled with cares and with petty vexations incessant! 

Woes of a work neverending, oppressing the teacher forever! 

Strange does it seem that I speak thus? Then listen : The Prince of all evil, 

Who, being baser than baseness, incites each to all kinds of mischief, 

Sows in the hearts of the pupils the fast-growing tares of folly. 

Never then here will you find any trace of that noble metal, 

Which being formed by the hands of a Phidias once adorned Athens 

Making th' Acropolis there both a bulwark and marvel of beauty; 

But such as Cain and as Ham and as Absolom, Esau, and Judas. 



The Teacher^ s Attitude Toward His Profession 109 

The idea of the total depravity of mankind seems to have had 
an especially oppressive effect upon the teacher, giving him a 
deep feeling of pessimism. His work seemed almost hopeless 
in view of the terrible light in which he interpreted the character 
of his pupils and their parents. Siber cries: "What is one to 
say of the morals of the boys? One of the results of the Fall of 
Man is that parents set a bad example for their children, swear- 
ing, making wicked jests, eating and drinking immoderately at 
an overladen table, wearing such clothes as even the devil him- 
self would not wear. But it would be easier to count the waves 
of the troubled sea than to enumerate the whole list of sins. 
From such a source nothing but corrupt offspring can come: as 
is the sowing, so is the reaping. . . . The morals of pupils are 
bad and not to be mended, not only among those of low birth 
but also among those of the highest nobility. And yet an Achil- 
les was once educated by a Chiron; and the conqueror of the 
Persian Empire obeyed Aristotle!" 

The hopelessness of the work is portrayed by Hayneccius in 
many passages in his Almansor. Nathan, the schoolmaster, 
in a long soliloquy gives expression to his feeling in regard to the 
fruitlessness of his work. In part he says, "It is most strange 
that nothing we undertake here on earth succeeds. The greater 
our zeal and diligence, the greater our failure." {Almansor IV: 
4.) The conscientious teacher has only increased trouble for 
his efforts. Little good comes from his sacrificing devotion to 
his duty; and even that little is not appreciated. 

If one may give credence to the picture drawn by Siber, the 
attitude of the teacher was one of general dissatisfaction. He 
was dissatisfied with his associates, who are pictured as stand- 
ing around doing nothing while their rector is compelled to bear 
the burdens of the school alone. He is likewise dissatisfied with 
the material support which he receives. "In the end are the 
pains and difficulties repaid by a good salary and the comforting 
signs of grateful hearts? If it were only so! . . . Must one 
then not perish of hunger and misery! One must ask assistance 
of friends and neighbors, knowing that one must cover these 
debts with new ones." Elsewhere he complains of the manager 
who gives the school over to ruin in order to grow rich at the 
expense of others. "He does not keep the schoolhouse in good 



110 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

condition; he clothes the boys poorly; and the only drink that 
he gives freely is water." Siber complains of food that has been 
warmed over, of meat that is too tough to eat, of bread made of 
clay instead of flour, and exclaims, "Tell me, can food like this 
give strength to the muscles and marrow of man!" 

"Everything unites to weaken your body and mind, — sick- 
ness, scanty salary, the most pitiful nourishment, old age without 
honor, until finally you approach the decisive hour of death, 
the only remaining refuge. Since this is true — and in reality 
it is true — for I have touched but lightly upon the woes that I 
have endured in the schoolroom for half a century, who can re- 
proach me as not having the right to utter the complaint?" 

This feeling of dissatisfaction, in Siber and Hayneccius 
at least, extended into nearly all the details of the work. The 
contempt for fellow-teachers generally, the resentment because 
of meager income, and the discouragement at lack of apprecia- 
tion represent the feeling in other regards. There is an attitude 
of hostility and contempt toward the parents of the pupils, shown 
in the quotations from Siber already given. Even more em- 
phatic is the following: "Then there come also slander, envy, 
cunning, and scorn. As eminent men are thus hindered, are 
teachers to escape? Sometimes there appears a person with an 
evil disposition toward his own sons. He cannot give them 
punishment enough. One who does not follow his example is 
censured for neglect." Hayneccius does not overemphasize the 
part played by stupid and bad parents; but he gives consider- 
able prominence to such persons in his Almansor. That they 
are a thorn in the flesh of the conscientious teacher is evident 
throughout the play. The feeling engendered is transferred in 
a large measure to the work of teaching, increasing its unpleas- 
antness more than any other single factor. What is true of 
parents is also true of pupils: a great deal of the attractiveness 
of the work of teaching is destroyed by a group of troublesome 
boys. Nathan, the schoolmaster in Almansor, seems consid- 
erably perturbed by the fact that the attitude of some of his 
boys is expressed as follows: "School is the fire of hell; the school- 
master and his helpers are the devil; pupils are the poor souls 
that are tormented." {Almansor I: 4.) 

The works of Hayneccius and Siber probably paint the teach- 



The Teacher's Attitude Toward His Profession 111 

er's attitude toward his work in too sombre colors. Siber es- 
pecially can find absolutely nothing good to say of the work. 
To him it is a kind of discipline which he must undergo in order 
to fulfil his religious duty; it is a calling in which one must bear 
patiently "the burdensome fetters of toil, rejoice in scorn, black 
calumny, ridicule, and the laughter of raging men, in the insult- 
ing conduct of boys, in lack of every advantage, in paleness, 
asthma and leanness, in trembling members, sorrow of soul, 
with heart continually tortured with care, robbed of every hope 
except that of being freed by death." In his prayer he likens 
his life to the sufferings of Christ and seems to find in the idea 
of suffering the most prominent characteristic of the teacher's 
lot. While Hayneccius is hardly as bitter as Siber, he finds the 
life of the teacher a trying one, in which the commonest reward 
is ingratitude; but he seems to find some consolation in the 
negative statement that the diligence of a faithful schoolmaster 
cannot remain forever unfruitful. From the point of view of 
Siber and Hayneccius, teaching is a work the reward for which 
is to be expected in another world; the results of which are un- 
duly small in proportion to the amount of care and energy given; 
devotion to which is the mark of a martyr. 

Attitude as Revealed by Conduct 

The evidence furnished by the Kirchenordnungen, together with 
that given by such writers as Siber and Hayneccius, shows that 
the real attitude of the teacher toward his profession was hardly 
that set forth as ideal in the opinion of the leaders of the period. 
The conduct of teachers with respect to their work does not lead 
to a conclusion at all different. That beautiful expressions of 
the nobility of the work of teaching did not raise it above other 
kinds of work is shown by the frequency with which men left it 
to take up other lines of activity. The case of the Annaberg 
School, already mentioned in the chapter on The Character of 
Teachers, may be regarded as typical of the best class of schools. 
Here but seven of fifty-seven remained permanently in the work 
of teaching. Unfortunately we have no means of knowing why 
the seven did not leave the profession. It makes a very great 
difference whether they continued to teach because of their high 
regard for the work or because they were unable to find anything 



112 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

better at which to make a living. The necessary inference from 
the facts is, as Bartusch says, that teaching was "a purgatory 
from which they hoped soon to be able to escape into paradise, — 
that, in most cases, being a good place as pastor." {Die Anna- 
berg Lateinschule, p. 70.) That a large number of teachers used 
their profession as a stepping stone to the ministry is evident 
from the records of the period, more than half of the Annaberg 
teachers following that line of promotion. An exception is found 
in Dassel, where comparatively few teachers become pastors, 
while a large percentage enter various forms of the service of the 
state. Where the incompetent drop out of the work of teaching, 
little can be inferred in regard to their attitude toward the work; 
but where men of ability leave a service which is pictured as one 
of the highest forms of human endeavor, it is evident that some 
disturbing force has entered to give a different conception or to 
drive them from the field even in spite of a high appreciation of 
its possibilities in the way of honor and usefulness. 



CHAPTER VIII 

SUMMARY OF TENDENCIES AND CONDITIONS 

In forming an estimate of the teachers or schools of any period 
one must continually remember that the first function of the 
teacher has ever been to preserve and transmit the culture which 
has already been gained. Only rarely does the school, especially 
that of elementary grade, make any pretence of doing more than 
transmitting carefully and effectively the intellectual and cultural 
treasure of the past. In a situation where a new regime is com- 
bating and supplanting a group of older institutions, it is likely 
to seem especially necessary that every possible means be taken 
to ensure an exact transmission of that for which the new stands. 
Nowhere has this been more generally true than in the case of 
the schools of the Protestant Reformation. There was continual 
danger that what had been displaced would find its way back into 
the schools. Furthermore there was the constant pressure of 
new movements antagonistic to the doctrines which the follow- 
ers of Luther sought to preserve. These external conditions 
seemed to force the various controlling bodies in the Pro- 
testant states of Germany to exercise constant vigilance to pre- 
vent even the slightest change in the nature of the schools which 
they had established to aid in the perpetuation of the doctrine 
which they represented. In view of these conditions then it is 
not strange that the century shows little or no tendency to relax 
the vigilance with which the religious qualifications of the teacher 
were scanned. As far as can be gathered from the Ordnungen 
the matter of orthodoxy in the teacher was deemed just as vital 
at the close of the century as it was at the beginning of the Revolt. 
Even where the school was largely under the control of the town 
there seems to have been no falling off in the strictness with which 
the teacher's religious beliefs were scrutinized. 

Ultimately the fundamental question in regard to an educa- 
tional system is, Has it within itself only such forces and guidance 



114 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

as will keep it going perpetually in its original orbit; or will it 
of its own nature make such adjustments as are demanded by new 
times? Is the system based upon the idea of progress or upon 
that of uniformity and stability? We may then ask, Were the 
sixteenth century Protestant schools of Germany organized in 
such a way that they would of themselves make such readjust- 
ment as later days demanded? Or would such progress have to 
be brought about by external force? As far as teachers are con- 
cerned, the answer to the question depends principally upon the 
sources from which they are drawn and upon the training which 
they receive. It has been shown that the teachers considered in 
this study were drawn from the ranks of the orthodox, the con- 
servative ; that the training which they received was traditional — 
humanistic; and consequently that the system held within itself 
such factors as would tend to develop a not easily adjustable con- 
dition of stability. 

Development of the Class of Teachers in Elementary Schools 

The gradual transition from sexton to German schoolmaster 
is one of the most noteworthy signs of progress in the sixteenth 
century. It is true that vernacular schools had long been in 
existence; but the tendency in Protestant states in the early 
years of the Reformation was to unite the functions of sexton and 
schoolmaster, especially in parishes where the ordinary duties of 
the former gave time for such other work as teaching. While 
the first care of the Reformers was not to establish elementary 
vernacular schools, enough attention was given to the teaching of 
the catechism to afford a fair basis for the establishment of such 
institutions. The influential Saxon School Plan of 1528 makes no 
provision whatever for instruction in the vernacular; but the 
Ordnung of 1580 makes careful provision for the development of 
German schools. In the period of more than half a century be- 
tween these two Ordnungen, the work of elementary instruction 
was undoubtedly in the hands of the sextons, who were definitely 
charged with the duty of giving instruction in the catechism by 
the regulations of 1556. While some of the other states made 
definite provision for the establishment of German schools before 
the Electorate of Saxony, what took place in that principality is 
typical of the process of development throughout the Protestant 



Summary of Tendencies and Conditions 115 

states. By the end of the century all the leaders among these 
states (such as the Electorate of Saxony, Pomerania, Brunswick, 
Hamburg, and Wiirttemberg) had made some kind of arrange- 
ment for the encouragement of the vernacular schools. While 
such institutions were not regarded wath the same esteem as the 
Latin schools, these beginnings are important as the foundation of 
the elementary school systems which later developed. It is 
certainly not to be said that the sixteenth century saw the rise 
of a clearly defined class of elementary school teachers with strict 
requirements, adequate support and efficient supervision; for 
there is a "wide gap between the actual conditions then existing 
and the provisions of the Ordnungen. Furthermore the Humanistic 
nature of the middle and higher schools tended to obscure the 
importance of vernacular schools, a tendency which made the 
teacher in the latter seem a person whose work was of relatively 
little value. Where one finds pages devoted to the Latin teacher, 
one can discover only a few lines on the work of the elementary 
teacher. But the carefully formed plans of Wiirttemberg and 
the Electorate of Saxony point to the development of lower 
schools and with them a class of teachers prepared for that work 
and devoted to it. 

Character of Teachers 

That the character of teachers in the sixteenth century left 
much to be desired can hardly be doubted, even though due al- 
lowance is made for the unsettled character of the period and the 
consequent temptation to excuse wealaiesses which would in 
other times be intolerable. One may give considerable credence 
to the theory that it is the evil that men do that lives after them 
and still be unable to believe that the teachers of this period at- 
tained a very high standard of moral or religious excellence. 
The Ordnwigen all agree in demanding the highest character of 
such men as were chosen to carry on the work of teaching. There 
is nowhere in such regulations a letting-dowTi of the high standard 
which the foremost leaders of the Reformation set up. But the 
impossibility of realizing the ideal is continually seen in the re- 
cords which portray the actual character of teachers. Instead 
of the "pious, unblameable man of good reputation" we often 
find a person who spends the week-end in a drunken debauch 



116 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

with such companions as may be found in a beer house. Too 
often where the teacher was supposed to be a man who could 
train his pupils in morality and piety, he himself was very defi- 
cient in those very qualities. The excessive emphasis of moral 
and religious qualifications undoubtedly had a tendency to defeat 
its own purpose. Greater demands of an intellectual nature 
might have served to build up a process of selection which would 
have given great assistance in weeding out the unfit and securing 
men of a higher type of morality as well as of intellect. 

The teachers in the schools which were established or reformed 
at the beginning of the Protestant movement were regarded as 
men of great excellence, men faithfully represented the high 
ideals of Humanism and of religion. But with the lapse of years 
the number of complaints in regard to the character of schoolmen 
increases. This can hardly be attributed to a spirit increasingly 
critical, but is rather to be regarded as evidence that there was 
a noticeable decline in the character of teachers. 

The weaknesses and vices of the period were reflected in the 
lives of the schoolmen. Drunkenness, indolence, extravagance, 
gambling, and neglect of duty were the most frequent causes of 
complaint. As is the case at present it may be that many of the 
accusations of laziness were but the reflection of the belief that 
the life of a teacher is one of comparative ease, that what he is 
really able to accomplish is very small in comparison with what 
his critics believe to be easily possible. 

As teachers cannot be chosen from a separate higher order of 
beings, but have to be taken from the people of their time, the 
only fair way to judge them seems to be upon the basis of their 
environment and opportunities. Teachers and clergy of the six- 
teenth century are almost unanimously agreed in regarding their 
fellow mortals as very weak and often immoral or irreligious. 
Drunkenness, wantonness, and a high degree of depravity are rep- 
resented as common characteristics of the people whom church and 
school have to train. Even with a large allowance for the exag- 
geration which must have resulted from this point of view, it is 
safe to say that teachers generallj^ were in comparison upon a high 
level of excellence. They may have been far below what is to be 
demanded of men in their position; but taken altogether they 
were rather better than one could expect when all the positive and 



Summary of Tendencies and Conditions 117 

negative factors are taken into consideration. Theirs was a 
hard lot with few compensations, but there were among them a 
surprising number of good, conscientious men who were an orna- 
ment to their time. 

Preparation of Teachers 

In the lower schools for boys and girls the training of teachers 
was very slight. Where the only teaching demanded was almost 
solely religious, the amount of intellectual training required was 
next to nothing. With the gradual development of instruction 
in reading, writing, and arithmetic there was probably a corre- 
sponding increase in the amount of training which teachers were 
required to have. But this would mean merely a larger number 
of teachers who could read, write and manipulate simple arithme- 
tical processes. As very little was to be taught in the lower 
schools, exceedingly slight preparation sufficed. The elementary 
teachers received their training in such schools; although there 
was occasionally a teacher who had attended a Latin school. 
The fact that the German schools did not fit into the system of 
Latin schools made it almost inevitable that lack of preparation 
of teachers should bear more heavily upon the former than upon 
the latter. Few people could be expected to make specific pre- 
paration for a work whose importance was deemed very slight. 
The greater number of persons engaged in the work must have been 
too weak or too poorly prepared to enter a field which was univer- 
sally considered more desirable. 

Even in the Latin schools the teachers were not as a rule ade- 
quately prepared; although these institutions had a great advant- 
age over the lower schools. A great many of those persons who 
taught Latin had had some training in the imiversities, generally 
in the faculty of arts (philosophy) alone. Here and there was 
to be found a young man who had completed the work of this 
preparatory department and had taken up the work in theology. 
The maximum of intellectual training was to be found in the pre- 
liminary work in Latin with the university work in physics, 
mathematics, astronomy, metaphysics, psychology, ethics, and 
politics, together with more or less work in Greek and Hebrew. 
That this advanced training sometimes went to the heads of 
enthusiastic teachers is shown by the fact that they occasionally 



118 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

attempted to mix Greek, Hebrew, and advanced work in literature 
with the elementary Latin work which they were supposed to do. 
There was no very definite preparation required for the work of 
teaching in Latin schools; but it was generally regarded as de- 
sirable that the teacher should have attended a university; and 
sometimes the degree of magister artium was required of the 
teachers in upper classes. Many schools depend upon the uni- 
versity of Wittenberg to supply them with capable instructors. 

Occasionally special encouragement was given poor students 
who were preparing for the work of teaching and preaching; but 
it can hardly be said that institutions for the special training of 
teachers existed. Within the profession, if it may be so called, 
there were a few opportunities for further preparation and growth. 
In the larger schools teachers' meetings were held ; but their work 
was principally confined to the routine work of the institution. 
In a few cases opportunity for private study was given in order 
that the teacher might perfect himself in his work. 

Appointment and Tenure 

The close relationship between church and state with the sub- 
ordination of schools to the former gave the clergy a very large 
part in controlling the appointment of teachers in both German 
and Latin schools. Even where the local council had authority 
to choose teachers, a candidate not acceptable to the pastor could 
not be forced upon the school. In the appointment of assistant 
teachers the rector sometimes had a voice. While magistrates, 
council, pastors and inspectors (the latter being universally clergy- 
men) are variously given authority to elect teachers, there can- 
not be said to be any general tendency toward a kind of control 
which is either purely secular or wholly ecclesiastical. 

The method of appointment was generally quite simple: a 
tentative selection, followed by an examination, the passing of 
which prepared the way for official appointment and induction 
into office. The examinations were severe enough to satisfy 
the officer in charge that the candidate was prepared to do the 
work of the position to which he aspired. In some cases documen- 
tary evidence of good character, orthodoxy, and preparation 
was required. Under such circumstances the personal element 
probably played a larger part then the purely intellectual; and the 



Summary of Tendencies and Conditions 119 

fact that a person had really been chosen for a position tended to 
make the examination rather a perfunctory matter. In the 
working of the district system in Massachusetts in the early part 
of the nineteenth century we find a similar arrangement, the 
examination conducted by the town board often being perfunct- 
ory approval of the selection made by the district committee. 

Tenure was relatively short; although many cases of very long 
service are to be found. Appointment from year to year or for 
periods of three or five years was common. Dismissal could be 
made only when there was good cause, the body making the ap- 
pointment generally having the right to dismiss. Notice of 
three or six months was frequently required when a teacher was 
to be removed. In like manner the teacher had to give the same 
notice when he intended to leave; but the regulations against 
runaway teachers show that this requirement was not well ob- 
served. The desire for better positions, poor pay, local difficulties, 
promotion to the ministry, and the wandering spirit were factors 
in making tenure brief. The evils of frequent changes were well 
recognized; but not much was done to remedy them during this 
period. 

Support of Teachers 

Throughout the sixteenth century the maintenance of teachers 
was in a state of confusion. No definite system of support had 
yet been devised; and the teacher generally suffered from the 
lack of a proper organization of finances. The sources of his 
income were very diverse, combining two extremes of regular 
salary from the general treasury and irregular gifts from pupils 
and patrons. In addition to salary and gifts the teacher might 
depend upon a varying income from fees for services such as 
furnishing music for funerals and weddings, tuition from such 
pupils as were able to pay, matriculation fees, and income from 
outside activities such as trading, keeping boarders, practicing 
medicine, selling wine and beer. In almost all cases he might 
be sure of dwelling, and perhaps garden or pasture. Whatever 
tendency is to be discovered shows an increasing reUance upon a 
definite salary from the church or civil government augmented 
by tuition fees. The idea of complete support by the state with- 
out resort to gifts from parents or definite charges for tuition 



120 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

does not appear; although the increasing dependence upon funds 
from the civil authorities is a step in that direction. The teacher 
had continually to sacrifice the dignity of his calling in order to 
make the most of various questionable means of making a living. 
Both absolutely and relatively teachers were poorly paid. Where 
the pastor was given a house and a salary of perhaps a hundred 
florins, the schoolmaster had to do with an income of thirty to 
sixty florins and a dwelling or rooms in the schoolbuilding. The 
assistant teachers, most of whom were unmarried, received much 
less than their superiors. Often the teacher of the lowest rank 
received only a fifth as much as the pastor. It is true that 
the conditions were such that the teacher did not need very much 
money for the actual necessities of life; but the little that he re- 
ceived was not much more than what was demanded for living 
expenses, while the purchase of clothing and books often made it 
necessary for him to live beyond his income. 

The inadequacy of the teacher's income was further empha- 
sized by its imcertainty. Tuition fees were irregular; where 
parents were dilatory or refused to pay, the teacher generally 
had to suffer the loss. Even the money which was to be paid 
from the general treasury was not always forthcoming when it 
was due; for there was not as yet a definite means of insuring that 
the general fund should be adequately maintained. The teacher 
was thus doubly handicapped by lack of adequacy of compensa- 
tion and of certainty of income. 

Supervision 

Oversight of the work of teachers was established by the church 
in order that it might make sure that the pupils were being trained 
properly in religion. In addition to this fundamental purpose 
there developed inspection of other phases of school work. The 
methods of instruction employed, the thoroughness with which 
the work was done, the zeal with which the teacher carried out the 
provision of the ordinances so far as they applied to his work, all 
were phases of supervision which were emphasized more or less. 
The duty of acting as inspector of schools generally fell upon the 
superintendent of the district, that is the clergyman of highest 
rank in the ephorie or administrative district of the church. 
Often the local pastor also had supervisory duties. Mayors, 



Summary of Tendencies and Conditions 121 

councilmen, stewards of the church, and other laymen were 
sometimes made overseers. In such cases they were not to act 
as individuals but as members of supervisory boards. 

The nature of the work of supervision is indicated in the fore- 
going statement of the purpose of maintaining overseers. The 
officials designated were required to visit schools at certain times 
and assure themselves that the schoolmaster was acting in ac- 
cordance with general and local regulations. Inspection some- 
times involved examining the pupils in order to test the efficiency 
of the teacher's work; but often a visit of the supervisor meant 
nothing more than a perfunctory call. Examinations in the 
elements of religious instruction were frequent; although only 
here and there do we find attempts to test the effectiveness of 
the teacher's work in the secular branches. 

The attitude of the teacher toward his supervisors generally 
gave no ground for complaint. As a rule they knew less about 
the work of teaching than he did; and only rarely did a supervisor 
appear who made severe criticism of the teacher's work. The 
fact that the good will and favorable opinion of his inspectors 
were important elements in the permanence of the schoolmaster's 
tenure undoubtedly had much to do with minimizing friction. 
Furthermore, the men chosen to act as supervisors were certainly 
the persons who would do most to further harmony in school and 
in the community. Matters of a personal nature occasionally 
interfered with the smoothness of relations which should have been 
regarded as purely professional; but this type of discord does not 
seem to have been more than usually prominent. 

Tendencies in Legislation 

The earliest regulations affecting teachers are very vague. In 
the Saxony School Plan of 1528, there is little more than a state- 
ment of the work which was to be done by the three classes in 
the Latin school, with the restriction upon teachers that they were 
to confine themselves to Latin without displaying their erudition 
by attempting to teach Greek and Hebrew. The Brunswick 
Ordnung of the same year contains material on the payment of 
teachers, dwellings for persons employed in the school, and 
certain duties of schoolmasters. But in the Ordnungen which 
come in the latter half of the century there are many more details, 



122 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

many of them narrowly prescriptive. The Wiirttemberg Plan 
of 1559 gives a detailed program of studies, provides for the 
examination and appointment of teachers, prescribes their duties, 
sets limits upon their liberties, provides supervision, and even 
prescribes the oath which teachers must take. The Saxony plan 
of 1580 is far more elaborate than that of 1528, being in large 
part modeled upon the Wiirttemberg Plan. Other regulations 
for states and for special institutions show the same tendency 
toward an increasing number of details, embodying the results 
of experience and providing for as many possibilities as can be 
foreseen. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Primary Sources 
The Ordinances. 

Hanselmann, Ludwig. Kirchenordnung fiir die Stadt Braunschweig nach 
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Lesarten der hochdeutschen Bearbeitungen imd einem Glossar. Wolfen- 
buttel, 1885. 

MoNUMENTA Germania PiEDAGOGicA. Vol. I. Braunschweigische Schul- 
ordnungen von den altesten Zeiten bis zum Jahre 1828. Herausgegeben 
von Prof. Dr. Friedrich Koldeway. Berlin, 1886. Has glossary. Vol. VI. 
Die Siebenbiirgisch-sachsischen Schulordnungen mit Einleitung, Anmerk- 
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Vol. VIII. Braunschweigische Schulordnungen von den altesten Zeiten 
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Vol. XXIV. Die Badischen Schulordnungen. Herausgegeben von Dr. 
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Vol. XXVII. Die Schulordnungen des Grossherzogtums Hessen. Erster 
Band: Die hoheren Schulen der Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt. Dr. 
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same. Vol. XXXIII. Third volume. Das Volkschulwesen der Land- 
grafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt. Berlin, 1905. 

Vol. XXXVIII. Das Unterrichtswesen der Grossherzogtumer Mecklen- 
burg-Schwerin und Strelitz. Dr. H. Schnell. Erster Band: Urkunden und 
Akten zur Geschichte des mecklenburgischen Unterrichtswesens. Mittel- 
alter imd Zeit der Reformation. Vol. XLV contains an "Ueberblick iiber 
die geschichthche Entwicklung des Unterrichtswesens" by the same 
author. 

Vol. XLI. MittelschulgeschichtUche Dokumente Altbayerns, einschliess- 
Uch Regensburg. Dr. George Lusz. Vol. XLII of Monumenta is the 
second of the work of Lusz. Berlin, 1907, 1908. 

Vol. XLVII. Dokumente zur Geschichte der humanistischen Schulen im 
Gebiet der bayerischen Pfalz. Dr. K. Reissinger. Berlin, 1910. 

RicHTER, Aemilius Ludwig. Die evangeUschen Kirchenordnungen des 16. 
Jehrhunderts. Leipzig, 1871. 

RiCHTER, Albert. Kursachsische Volkschulordnungen, in Neudrucke 
Pad. Schriften, IV. Leipzig, 1891. This has the part on Deutsche 
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124 Teachers in Germany in the Sixteenth Century 

Sehling, Emil. Die evangelischen Kirchenordniingen des 16. Jahrhund- 
erts. Three volumes with others to follow. Leipzig, 1902-1909. 

VoRMBAUM. Evangelische Schulordnungen im 16., 17., und 18. Jahrhund- 
erts. Giitersloh, 1860. 

RiCHTER gives principally material dealing with the church; Vormbaum, 
that dealing with schools; while Sehling attempts to give the Kirchenord- 
nungen complete, neglecting neither church nor school. Vormbaum's 
material is taken partly from Kirchenordnungen and partly from special 
Schulordnungen. Richter often gives a mere title or epitome; while the 
work of Sehling is generally complete. The editions in the Monumenta 
contain valuable introductions as does also the work of Sehling. 

Records of Visitations. 
Daneil, Dr. Fr. H. O. Protocolle der ersten lutherischen Generalkirchen- 

visitationen im Erzstifte Magdeburg. Anno. 1562 bis 1564. Magdeburg, 

1864. Has httle material on schools except in regard to finances. 
Grossmann, Karl. Die Visitations-akten der Dioces Grimma aus dem 

ersten Jahrhundert seit der Reformation. Leipzig, 1873. Very little 

material concerning teachers. 
Pallas, Karl. Die Registraturen der Kirchenvisitationen im ehemals 

sachsischen Kurkreiss. Herausgegeben von der Historischen Kommis- 

sion fiir die Provinz Sachsen und das Herzogtum Anhalt. 4 parts in 3 

volumes. Halle, 1906. A great deal of excellent material. 
Winter, F. ProtocoUe iiber die Kirchenvisitationen von 1528 bis 1533 im 

Wittenberger Kreise. (Neue Mittheilungen aus dem Gebiet historisch- 

antiquarischer Forschungen. Vol. IX. Halle, 1862.) 

Miscellaneous. 

Chronicon et Annales Torgaviensis, ab An. MCCXCVI as MDCL In- 
certto autore; e vernacular Latine vertit C. G. H. To be found in Menck- 
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zig, 1728. Contains a schoolmaster's chronicle of 1601. 

Hayneccius, Martin. Almansor, Der Kinder Schulspiegel. Einleitung 
von Otto Haupt. Leipzig, 1891. A rather entertaining play throwing 
various sidelights on conditions of the sixteenth century. 

Krafft, Karl and Wilhelm. Briefe imd Dokumente aus der Zeit der 
Reformation im 16. Jahrhimdert nebst Mittheilungen iiber Kolnische 
Gelehrte und Studien im 14. und 16. Jahrh. Elberfeld. 

Melanchthon, p. De miseriis pjjedagogorum, in Corpus Reformatorum, 
Vol. XI. Halle, 1843. 

ScHADE, Oskar. Satiren imd Pasquille aus der Reformationzeit. 3 vols. 
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Bartusch, Paul. Die Annaberger Lateinschule zur Zeit der ersten Bliite 
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excellent work. 



Bibliography 125 

Blanckmeistek, Franz. Die sachsischen Konsistorien. In Aus dem 

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13. Jahrh. bis gegen die Mitte des 19. Jahrh. (1214-1846). Leipzig 

and Berlin, 1909. An excellent work. 
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126 Teachers in Germany m the Sixteenth Century 

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Schwarz, B. Jacob Wimphehng, der Altvater des deutschen Schulwesens. 
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densed bibhography. 



mi 14 wm. 



